Strong storms in Texas leave one dead and widespread damage

HOUSTON.- Blackouts remained widespread Wednesday in Texas a day after another bout of extreme weather flooded streets and uprooted several trees and roofs. Authorities said a teenager died at a construction site while working on a collapsed house.

Tuesday’s extreme weather, which at one point left 1 million customers without power, was an extension of the deadly stormssome of which resulted in tornadoes, which were recorded in the United States during the Memorial Day holiday weekend and caused the death of 24 people in seven states.

Electricity provider Oncor said power in the Dallas metropolitan area should be restored by Friday in most cases, but some of the outages will extend through the weekend.

So far, the company has restored power to just over half of the 650,000 affected customers in North Texas.

The flooding and damage in Houston came just weeks after the area was hit by a weather event known as a derecho, a widespread, prolonged windstorm associated with a band of fast-moving showers or thunderstorms. This storm caused the deaths of eight people and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power.

“Many people are without electricity again. Just a couple of weeks ago we faced the derecho, which was extremely devastating, and many people are still trying to recover from it,” said Lina Hidalgo, a Harris County judge and the top elected official in the county that is home to Houston. “Many people are without electricity again. Just a couple of weeks ago we faced the derecho, which was extremely devastating, and many people are still trying to recover from it,” said Lina Hidalgo, a Harris County judge and the top elected official in the county that is home to Houston.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell was scheduled to travel to Arkansas on Wednesday, where seven people were killed by the weekend storms, as President Joe Biden’s administration continues to assess damage from the tornadoes. .

The potential for heavy rain, localized flash flooding and extreme weather conditions continued Wednesday in Oklahoma and Texas. Thunderstorms are forecast Wednesday afternoon and Thursday in eastern Montana and Wyoming, and northeastern Colorado, then moving into Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and northern Texas.

Source: AP