HOUSTON — Power outages could last weeks in some parts of Houston, an official warned Friday, after thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds hit the city, knocking out power to nearly a million homes and businesses in the region, and bursting water. windows of downtown skyscrapers and overturning vehicles.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado with maximum winds of 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour) had touched down near Cypress, a northwest Houston suburb in Harris County.
The Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, said crews were still trying to determine the extent of the damage and the toll from Thursday’s storms. He Mayor of Houston, John Whitmiresaid four people, possibly five, had died.
“It was fierce. It was intense. It was fast, and most Houstonians did not have time to get to safety,” Whitmire declared at a press conference.
With several transmission towers down, Hidalgo urged patience. Thousands of public service workers were heading to the area, where supply had already been restored to some 200,000 consumers. Another 100,000 users remained without electricity in Louisiana, although the number reached 215,000.
“We are going to have to talk about this disaster within weeks, not days,” said Hidalgo.
He said he had heard “stories of horror and helplessness” in the face of the storm. The weather service also reported straight-line winds of up to 100 mph (161 km/h) in downtown Houston and the suburbs of Baytown and Galena Park.
Affected residents
Noelle Delgado’s heart sank as she arrived Thursday night at Houston Pets Alive, the animal rescue organization where she is executive director. The dogs and cats — more than 30 in all — were unharmed, but the awning had been ripped off, the sign was vandalized and water was leaking inside. With power expected to be out for some time and temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) on Saturday, she hoped to find foster homes for the animals.
“There’s no doubt this storm was a little different,” she said. “I felt terrified.”
Yesenia Guzmán, 52, worried about whether she would get paid with the electricity still out at the restaurant where she works in the Houston suburb of Katy.
“We really don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
Widespread destruction paralyzed much of Houston. Trees, debris and shattered glass littered the streets. The wall of a building was torn off.
School districts in the Houston metropolitan area canceled classes for more than 400,000 students and government offices remained closed. City officials urged people to avoid the city center and stay off the streets, many of which were flooded or littered with downed power lines and broken traffic lights.
Widespread storm outages in Houston pose new risk: heat
As the Houston metropolitan area worked Saturday to clean up and restore power to thousands of people after the deadly storms that left at least seven dead, it did so under a smog warning and as all of South Texas began to feel the heat.
The National Weather Service in Houston warned that temperatures could reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) this weekend, so people should be aware of the symptoms of heat exhaustion. “Don’t overdo it during the cleaning process,” he said in a post on the X social network.
The hot weather is a concern in a region where more than half a million homes and businesses were still without power Saturday morning, down from nearly a million previously, according to PowerOutage.us. Strong storms on Thursday, with winds of up to 100 mph (161 km/h), broke windows downtown, while a tornado occurred near the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported that three people died during the storm, including an 85-year-old woman whose home caught fire after being struck by lightning, and a 60-year-old man who tried to use his vehicle to turn on its oxygen tank.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire previously said at least four people had died in the city as storms swept through Harris County, which includes Houston.
Many transmission towers had fallen, so Hidalgo asked for patience. Another 21,000 customers had been left without power in Louisiana, hit by strong winds and a possible tornado, a number lower than the 215,000 previously affected.
Source: AP
