Houston’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades, scheduled for Monday, have been called off due to the anticipated extreme cold weather in the region. Both the downtown parade and the one in Midtown were postponed after the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory set to last until at least 6 p.m. Monday. Additionally, the MLK Boulevard trail ride in southeast Houston, originally planned for 11 a.m. Monday, has also been postponed. Mayor John Whitmire made the decision based on advice from key officials, including Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, HFD Chief Sam Peña, and George Buenik, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security and Public Safety. They collectively agreed that postponing the parade was the safest course of action for participants, spectators, and first responders. Chief Peña, during a news conference on Friday, urged residents to limit travel and check on elderly neighbors amid the plummeting temperatures. He also highlighted the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, emphasizing the importance of furnace inspections, as malfunctioning furnaces are a common cause of such incidents. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas called on residents to conserve energy on Monday morning between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., anticipating low operating reserves during those hours.
