Most in Houston should have power restored after storms

Father Elias Lopez reads by candle light during morning mass.

By Juan A. Lozano

Associated Press

May 19, 2024 2:14 PM PT

HOUSTON —

Houston-area residents affected by storms last week that left at least seven dead got some good news as officials said they expect power to be restored by Sunday evening to a majority of the hundreds of thousands in the dark and without air conditioning amid hot, humid weather.

Thursday’s storms brought much of Houston to a standstill. Thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds tore through the city, reducing structures to piles of debris, uprooting trees and shattering glass from downtown skyscrapers. A tornado touched down near the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress.

More than 352,000 homes and businesses in Texas remained without electricity Sunday morning, mostly in the Houston area.

“It’s been a madhouse out here,” Cypress resident Hallie O’Bannon said. “You know we don’t have any power. No hot water. It’s been really crazy.”

Residents took shelter from the heat at a community center in the Cloverleaf neighborhood, one of five cooling stations for those without power at home.

Carolina Sierra and her 6-year-old son Derek enjoyed the air conditioning for a couple of hours Sunday. She said they had been without electricity since Thursday, and their home has been stifling.

Derek passed the time coloring while his mother charged her cellphone and a portable lamp they planned to use Sunday night if the power was not restored. Sierra, 38, said she gives her son baths to keep him cool, but he tosses and turns at night.

“We are desperate. We hardly sleep at night because of the heat,” Sierra said.

Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia stood outside the center Sunday, loading water and ice onto vehicles while offering words of encouragement to those waiting for power to be restored.

“We are seeing a bit of the recovery come through. But we can’t see enough of it fast enough,” Garcia said.

Additional help was on the way in the form of disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and loans from the Small Business Administration, said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the county that includes Houston. The federal assistance, which can pay for temporary housing and repairs, will help residents affected by last week’s storms as well as by flooding from heavy rainfall in late April and early May.

CenterPoint Energy said it anticipated that about 80% of affected customers in the Houston area would have service restored by Sunday evening. Hidalgo said 90% of customers could be restored by Wednesday.

CenterPoint Energy said 2,000 employees and more than 5,000 contractors were working in the Houston area to restore power.

“We understand the higher temperatures we are experiencing across Houston and surrounding communities make getting the lights and air conditioning back on even more important,” Lynnae Wilson, senior vice president of electric business, said in a statement.

Residents broke into cheers as lights and air conditioning kicked on Sunday morning at the eight-story Houston Heights Tower, a senior housing facility. The nearly 200 residents had been living on emergency power since Thursday evening, with generators providing enough electricity to run just one elevator and a handful of fans in the community room, leaving apartments in darkness.

Volunteers and city workers had been ensuring residents received a steady supply of water, food and essentials like toilet paper.

“It just goes to show you how people come together,” said resident Joseph Torregrossa, 72, choking back tears.

The National Weather Service posted to X that “sunny, hot and increasingly humid days” are expected in the Houston area. Highs of about 90 degrees were expected this week, with heat indexes likely approaching 102 by midweek.

With the temperature at 91 Sunday afternoon, Lisa Reed sat in a folding chair outside her home in the Cloverleaf neighborhood because she was without electricity. A volunteer crew had just cut up a tree in her front yard, which had come crashing down on two vehicles in her driveway, and stacked the wood neatly in two piles.

Reed, 54, said no home on her street — where branches and other debris were piled along the sidewalk — escaped damage from last week’s storms.

“It’s nothing I can do,” said Reed, a fifth-grade teacher. “Take it all in stride. I’m a firm believer that God will work it all out.”

Houston-area school districts canceled classes for more than 400,000 students Friday. The Houston Independent School District, the largest in Texas, said power had been restored to nearly 200 campuses, and those schools would be open Monday. But 77 campuses remained without power.

Lozano writes for the Associated Press. AP reporter Mark Vancleave contributed to this report.