U.S.
/ CBS/AP
At least 4 dead in Houston storms
At least seven people were killed as thunderstorms blew out windows in high-rise buildings, downed trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Houston area Thursday as Southeast Texas got pummeled for the second time this month. Power outages could last weeks in parts of Houston, an official warned Friday.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire told reporters in a news briefing Thursday night that four people were killed due to the storms in the city. At least two of those fatalities were caused by fallen trees, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told reporters. Another was caused by a "crane that was blown over by the wind."
On Friday, the sheriff for Harris County, which includes Houston, reported another three weather-related deaths. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on social media that a 57-year-old man died while trying to move a downed electrical pole, an 85-year-old woman died when a lightning strike sparked a fire in her trailer, and a 60-year-old man was found dead after he "went out to his truck to plug his oxygen tank due to loss of power."
The National Weather Service said it confirmed a tornado with peak winds of 110 mph touched down near the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress.
"We have a storm with 100 mph winds, the equivalent of Hurricane Ike, considerable damage downtown," Whitmire said Thursday, urging people to "stay at home."
Several downtown office buildings lost windows.
"Glass all over the streets downtown, traffic lights are out," Whitmire said.
The mayor said the city was working through a "backlog" of 911 emergency calls. The majority of those regarded gas leaks and downed wires, Peña said.
The Houston Independent School Districtshutteredall schools Friday as a result of the storm.
Streets were flooded and trees were down across the region. CBS affiliate KHOU-TV showed images of shattered windows on an office building in downtown Houston, with glass littering the street below. Video posted to social media showed a downtown street covered in debris. Another showed a partially collapsed building with bricks littering the street.
Video also appeared to show water being blown into Minute Maid Park, the home of the Houston Astros, despite the stadium's roof being closed. The Astros hosted the Oakland Athletics on Thursday.
"If you're still there after an Astros game do not go west through downtown," Whitmire said.
At one point, more than one million customers were without power in Texas Thursday night, according to utility trackerPowerOutage.us. That number was down to some 567,000 as of Friday evening.
Of that, more than 531,000 customers were without electricity in and around Harris County. The county is home to more than 4.7 million people.
"I ask everyone to be patient, look out for your neighbors," Whitmire had said Thursday. "It will take 24 hours for a lot of this power to be restored, some will require 48 hours."
However, on Friday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county's top elected official, indicated restoring all power would take considerably longer.
"We are going to have to talk about this disaster in weeks, not days," Hidalgo said.
Whitmire said at least 2,500 traffic lights were out. He also warned would-be looters that "police are out in force, including 50 state troopers sent to the area to prevent looting."
How quickly repairs are made to the region's power transmission system will depend on a variety of factors, including the time it takes to assess the damage, equipment replacement, roadwork access issues and workforce availability. Centerpoint Energy deployed 1,000 employees on Friday and had a pending request for 5,000 more line workers and vegetation professionals.
High-voltage transmission towers that were torn apart and downed power lines pose a twofold challenge for the utility company because the damage affected transmission and distribution systems, according to Alexandria von Meier, a power and energy expert who called that a rare thing.
"It's more typical that the damage is just at the distribution system, which is, you know, just not as strong," von Meier said, referring to power lines that tend to be more susceptible to wind damage.
Noelle Delgado's heart sank as she pulled up Thursday night to Houston Pets Alive, the animal rescue organization where she is executive director. The dogs and cats — more than 30 in all — were uninjured, but the awning had been ripped off, the sign was mangled and water was leaking inside. With power expected to be out for some time and temperatures forecast to climb into the 90s on Saturday, she hoped to find foster homes for the animals.
"I could definitely tell that this storm was a little different," she said. "It felt terrifying."
Yesenia Guzmán, 52, worried whether she would get paid with the power 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.
Heavy storms slammed the region during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.
President Biden Friday night issued a major disaster declaration that frees up federal assistance for seven Southeast Texas counties for the "severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding" that hit the region beginning April 26.
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