Houston continues to reel from the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl days after it tore through the city. Over a million homes and businesses remain without power, leading to widespread store closures and traffic disruptions due to non-functional lights. Gas stations are either shut down or overwhelmed with long lines as people scramble to fuel their cars and generators.
More than 1 million homes and businesses are enduring another sweltering day without air conditioning, with the US National Weather Service warning of heat-related illnesses.
Rimsha Aslam, 28, who moved to Houston from Thailand just three months ago, had to evacuate her flooded apartment with her father and seek shelter at a neighborhood YMCA, now serving as a cooling center. “There are no restaurants open, all the shops are closed—everybody is still struggling,” she said. “This is my first experience of a storm in Houston, and it’s not like this in Thailand.”
As of Thursday morning, approximately 1.3 million homes and businesses in Texas remain without power, with Houston being the hardest hit. CenterPoint Energy Inc., the area’s main utility, accounts for more than 80% of these outages. Although this is down from the peak of 2.2 million outages, many Texans are still suffering in the intense heat. The region’s heat index values are forecasted to reach as high as 106°F (41°C).
Houston is now divided between those with power and those without. While life is returning to normal for some, others are enduring a brutal waiting game.
CenterPoint aims to restore power to an additional 400,000 customers by the end of Friday and another 350,000 by Sunday. Despite these efforts, tens of thousands will still be without power nearly a week after the storm.
The prolonged outages are causing rising tensions among residents. Bill Hudgens, 80, bought a generator for his son at a Lowe’s store near Houston’s Energy Corridor. “The inside of his house is now approaching the high 80s,” he said. “His mother-in-law is 90 years old, and no one’s happy. Tensions rise when the temperature rises.”
Frustration with the utility’s response is mounting. Mathurin Oulai, 63, expressed concern over securing enough gasoline and supplies. “To find gas, you have to drive 30 to 40 minutes,” he said. “Everything is closed, and I’m a disabled man. I tried to contact social security, but it’s closed.”
While power has been restored for about half of CenterPoint’s affected customers, other parts of Houston still face significant challenges. Grocery stores are open and gasoline is available in some areas.
Beryl struck Houston on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. AccuWeather Inc. estimates the storm’s cost in the US, including damages and economic losses, could reach $28 billion to $32 billion.
Drew Dickert from northwest Houston, who lost power for 30 hours, quickly turned his attention to a friend with severe asthma who relies on an oxygen machine. “He’s got these generators, but one of them went down,” said the 65-year-old geologist. “I picked up some gas and am getting some hardware to keep him going.”
Representative Sylvia Garcia called CenterPoint’s slow response a “public health crisis” in a letter to the utility’s CEO. Texas Governor Greg Abbott acknowledged the outages as a significant issue and plans to have the state’s Public Utility Commission investigate the recurring blackouts in Houston.
Houston City Councilwoman Carolyn Evans-Shabazz highlighted the increasing frequency and severity of these storms, emphasizing the vulnerability of residents, especially those in assisted-living facilities without backup generators. “These storms are getting worse, and coming more frequently, and we are defenseless,” she said.