SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones outlined storm recovery efforts and the city’s upcoming budget challenges as officials continue restoring electricity, assisting affected residents and assessing damage from a storm that left about 100,000 customers without power.
Most affected households regained electricity within two and a half days, but about 1,000 households remained without power as crews worked on downed lines in difficult-to-access residential areas.
The city continues to provide assistance in neighborhoods hit hardest by the storm, including parts of the West Side.
The San Antonio Food Bank is distributing hot meals and replacing groceries lost during the prolonged outages. H-E-B contributed $25,000 in gift cards to support the food assistance effort.
Animal Care Services also resumed normal operations after losing power during the storm. Community members temporarily fostered shelter animals while the facility operated without electricity.
City officials are assessing storm damage to determine whether the city meets the nearly $10 million threshold required to qualify for state assistance.
Ortiz Jones also urged residents to use the city’s 311 service for storm-related cleanup and repair assistance. She said residents should not avoid requesting help because they fear receiving code citations or tickets during the recovery process.
The mayor connected the city’s storm response and long-term resilience efforts to its Fiscal Year 2027 budget negotiations.
San Antonio faces a projected $158 million budget deficit, prompting officials to consider spending reductions, changes to hotel occupancy tax allocations and adjustments to funding for community programs and capital projects.
Ortiz Jones said property tax increases remain a last resort as city leaders examine other ways to close the budget gap while maintaining funding for public health and essential infrastructure.
Officials are also evaluating the use of tax increment reinvestment zones and other funding changes as they work to balance storm resilience needs with the city’s broader financial obligations.
