Utility hopes to have 1 million Houston-area customers back online by Wednesday
Reporting from Amy Calvin
CenterPoint Energy, Houston’s primary electricity provider, said it hopes to have power restored to 1 million customers who experienced storm-related outages by the end of the day Wednesday.
The company has so far restored power to more than 425,000 customers in the region, with 1,839,216 still in the dark late Monday, it said by email.
The total number of customers without power at the peak of the storm-related outage was 2.265 million, CenterPoint said in statement late tonight.
Its efforts have been bolstered by about 10,000 workers from outside the company, along with its own force of 1,500 deployed today to restore electricity and reroute power around damaged lines and facilities, according to its statements throughout the day.
CenterPoint said it trucked portable generators to locations with critical need, including a medical facility and an emergency response operation.
Beryl threatens Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri with heavy rain
Even as it weakened today to a tropical depression, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl are potent enough to bring as much as 5 inches of rain to Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri tomorrow, forecasters said.
The storm will become disorganized on its path north-northeast into the American interior, the National Hurricane Center said in an evening bulletin.
But Beryl is potent enough to produce another 4 to 8 inches of rain, with 12 inches possible, overnight in parts of eastern Texas, the center said. Flash flooding was possible, and rivers could overflow, it said in an evening bulletin.
Unsettled air associated with the system could produce “several tornadoes” tonight in parts of east Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, the center said. The tornado risk will move north-northeast with Beryl to southeast Missouri, northern Tennessee, Kentucky, southern Illinois, southern Indiana and Ohio tomorrow, it said.
The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, was about 30 miles east-southeast of Tyler, Texas, early this evening, according to the hurricane center.
It was headed out of Texas tonight at 16 mph and expected to move more directly toward the northeast faster tomorrow, forecasters said. As it continues to weaken, Beryl will be designated a post-tropical cyclone, they said.
Houston police employee who died in Beryl floodwaters identified
Acting Houston Police Chief Larry J. Satterwhite identified the employee who died when his vehicle flooded in the storm as Russell Richardson, 54.
Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference earlier today that the civilian worker had been called in as part of the “tier 1” group of employees asked to help with hurricane response efforts and got stuck in floodwaters while driving to his workplace.
First responders eventually pulled his body from a vehicle on Houston Avenue under Interstate 45, he said.
Richardson worked in the police department’s office of technology services as an “information security officer,” Satterwhite said on X today.
Utility gets help from thousands of outside workers in effort to restore power
Reporting from Amy Calvin, Tangni Noriega
CenterPoint, Houston’s primary electricity provider, said it was essentially all-hands-on-deck and then some in the effort to get nearly 3 million customers back online.
“An additional 10,000 resources from other utilities” were being welcomed to help with the restoration effort, it said in an afternoon statement.
CenterPoint has 1,500 “internal resources” on the job, as well, it said.
By late this afternoon, more than 2.5 million electricity customers remained without power after nearly 700,000 experienced the return of power, the utility said on its storm center update webpage.
CenterPoint did not offer a timeline for full restoration, and officials at a state news conference cautioned that some customers could be in the dark for days. “Customers in the hardest-hit areas may experience prolonged outages and should prepare accordingly,” CenterPoint said.
At the state news conference, officials warned residents using mobile, fuel-powered generators to keep them outside at all costs to prevent deadly carbon monoxide from seeping indoors.
Workers finished emergency repairs to dam on Lake Livingston before rain arrived
More than 4 inches of rain fell on parts of Lake Livingston, where construction crews have been racing to repair a dam that remains on “potential failure watch” after heavy rain in April and May.
There is no immediate danger of a breach or failure of the dam, which is just north of Houston.
The dam is classified as a high-hazard dam in unsatisfactory condition, according to the National Inventory of Dams. Crews have been shoring up the structure since heavy rain caused erosion this spring.
Workers finished some emergency repairs yesterday in advance of the storm, said Vanessa Joseph, a spokesperson for the Trinity River Authority of Texas.
“Those repairs are going to ensure the dam is ready for any potential rainfall due to Hurricane Beryl,” Joseph said. “In addition to that, if we receive other high flows related to it, the dam should perform as designed.”
Houston police civilian employee dies in floodwaters, mayor says
A Houston Police Department civilian employee died in floodwaters driving into work after being called in to help staff emergency operations, Mayor John Whitmire said.
It was the third death blamed on Hurricane Beryl and its aftermath in Houston, Whitmire said at a news conference. The worker was part of a “tier 1” city response to the storm, he said.
The employee was not identified.
Whitmire said the vehicle stalled in floodwater on the Houston Avenue underpass at Interstate 45.
Beryl forecast to weaken to tropical depression
Tropical Storm Beryl is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression tonight or overnight, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Beryl is still producing flash flooding and strong winds over eastern Texas, including at least one tornado that touched down in Jasper.
The storm was 80 miles southeast of Tyler, Texas with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. It’s moving northeast at 16 mph.
“A turn toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected tonight and Tuesday, the hurricane center said. “On the forecast track, the center of Beryl will move over eastern Texas today, then move through the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
Beryl is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone tomorrow, the center said.
Galveston Island mostly without power; some areas could take up to 2 weeks to be restored
Most residents in Galveston Island are without power because of wind damage to power lines, according to the city of Galveston.
“The island experienced substantial wind damage in the form of downed power lines, transformers, trees and other debris,” the city said today on Facebook.
The city is working with CenterPoint Energy to restore power to the island, but it is warning residents to “prepare for a possible multi-day power outage.”
“The estimated timeline is anywhere from 72 hours to two weeks in parts of the island,” the city said. “This is the only update we have currently as it relates to power outages.”
Several Houston medical facilities close; emergency departments remain open
Several health groups in Houston closed or announced shorter hours for their outpatient facilities because of Tropical Storm Beryl. Emergency departments will remain open.
Harris Health closed outpatient facilities and canceled elective procedures for today but will keep its emergency department open, it said in a statement. All of MD Anderson Cancer Center’s locations will be closed today to patients except those requiring urgent procedures, according to its website.
Memorial Hermann Medical Group said in a statement that it has closed some facilities and rescheduled appointments. St. Luke’s Health said on Instagram that St. Luke’s Health–Brazosport Hospital sustained damage but that its patients and staff members are safe. It will continue providing emergency care.
Video shows alligator swimming in floodwaters in eastern Texas neighboorhood
Video posted on social media today shows an alligator swimming in floodwaters in a neighborhood in Missouri City, Texas.
The alligator could be seen swimming nearby in floodwaters that surrounded homes in the area and near where residents were trying to secure their boats from sailing away.
Tornado touches down in eastern Texas
A tornado touched down in Jasper, Texas, this afternoon, according to city officials.
The tornado, which affected the western part of the city, caused damage to power lines and buildings.
“We have power outages all over town, and we don’t have an estimated time when they will be restored,” the city of Jasper said on Facebook. “Watch out for down power lines; always treat a power line as if it’s live.”
The city shared a video showing downed trees in the road and heavy rain.
‘We probably would’ve been killed’: Woman describes surviving tree falling on her home
A woman and her husband say they’re lucky to have survived after a massive tree fell on their home last night in Wharton, Texas.
Sarah Glass said she was sheltering in the living room of the home with her husband when the lights went out. Glass went to the bedroom, and her husband went outside to check the generator.
Later, she heard a “big crash” as she was walking into the kitchen.
“The ceiling had fallen in, and the — you can see the tree branches and the studs and everything were broken and they’re all kind of spiky inside the house,” Glass told NBC News.
Glass said that had the generator not stopped working, they would’ve stayed in the living room, which the tree hit.
“We probably would have been killed,” she said.
Two people were killed today in Harris County, Texas, when trees fell on their homes, a 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman.
Photos of damage from Hurricane Beryl across Texas
‘Very hazardous’ conditions persist in eastern Texas
“Very hazardous” conditions, including life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and heavy rain that can cause flooding, continue to affect eastern Texas, the National Hurricane Center said in an update this afternoon.
Beryl, which weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm after it made landfall on the Texas coast, is about 45 miles northwest of Houston. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and is moving northeast at 13 mph, the hurricane center said.
