HOUSTON– As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to thousands after deadly storms, it will happen Saturday under a smog warning and as all of South Texas begins to feel the heat.
The National Weather Service in Houston warned that with temperatures topping 90 degrees (32.2 C) this weekend, people should know the symptoms of heat exhaustion. “Don’t overextend yourself during the decluttering process,” reads a post on social platform X.
The mild weather is concerning in a region where more than 555,000 homes and businesses were without electricity as of Friday evening — down from nearly 1 million, according to PowerOutage.us. Severe storms Thursday with winds of up to 100 mph (161 kph) blew out windows in downtown, while a tornado touched down near the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress.
At least four people were killed as the storms tore through Harris County, including Houston. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Friday that it could take “weeks” to restore power to some areas.
With several cell towers down, Hidalgo urged patience. Another 26,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, where high winds and a suspected tornado hit, down from a peak of 215,000.
“We will have to talk about this disaster in weeks, not days,” Hidalgo said.
She said she heard “horror stories of sheer terror and powerlessness” when the storm broke through. The weather service also reported straight-line winds of up to 100 mph (161 km per hour) in the suburbs of Baytown and Galena Park.
The Houston Health Department said it would distribute 400 free portable air conditioners to seniors, people with disabilities and caregivers of disabled children.
In addition to the heat, the Houston area has also been warned of poor air quality this weekend. While in the east, heavy rain was possible across eastern Louisiana to central Alabama, while parts of Louisiana were warned of the risk of flash flooding through Saturday.
The widespread destruction brought much of Houston to a standstill. Trees, debris and broken glass littered the streets. The brick wall of one building was ripped off.
School districts in the Houston area canceled classes for more than 400,000 students on Friday and government offices were closed. City officials urged people to avoid downtown and stay off the roads, many of which were flooded or littered with downed power lines and malfunctioning traffic lights.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire warned that police were present, including state troopers sent to the area to prevent looting. He said the speed and intensity of the storm caught many off guard.
“Most Houstonians didn’t have time to put themselves out of harm’s way,” Whitmire said at a news conference.
Noelle Delgado stopped by Houston Pets Alive, the animal rescue organization where she is executive director, on Thursday evening to discover that the dogs and cats – more than 30 in all – were unharmed, but the awning had been ripped off, the sign was mangled and water was leaking inside. . She hoped to find foster homes for the animals.
“I could definitely tell this storm was a little different,” she said. “It felt terrifying.”
Yesenia Guzmán worried about getting paid while the power was still out at the restaurant where she works in the Houston suburb of Katy.
“We don’t really know what’s going to happen,” she said.
Whitmire signed a disaster declaration, paving the way for state and federal storm recovery assistance. President Joe Biden also issued a disaster declaration for seven Texas counties, including Harris, citing severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding since April 26. His action makes federal funding available to people affected by the storms.
Emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County called the damage to transmission lines “catastrophic.”
High-voltage transmission towers that have been torn apart and downed power lines pose a double challenge for the utility because the damage has affected transmission and distribution systems, said Alexandria von Meier, a power and energy expert who called that rare. Damage to just the distribution system is more common, von Meier said.
How quickly repairs are completed depends on several factors, including the time it takes to assess damage, equipment replacement, roadwork access issues and staff availability. Centerpoint Energy deployed 1,000 employees on Friday and requested 5,000 additional line workers and green professionals.
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Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed.