Roughly 2.3 million people are still without power after Hurricane Beryl swept across the Houston and East Texas region on Monday. The major storm has also claimed the lives of at least eight individuals in the United States.
According to Fox Weather, utility crews have been working quickly to restore power to approximately 2.7 million people who lost power due to Hurricane Beryl. However, the PowerOutage.us website showed that nearly 2.3 million Texas residents were still without power as of Tuesday morning.
Updating Texas residents on the progress of power restoration across the state, CenterPoint issued a press release on Monday, saying, “Based on current progress with its damage assessment and initial restoration, CenterPoint now expects to have 1 million impacted customers restored by the end of the day on Wednesday, July 10.”
Fox Weather reported that power restoration operations in Texas are complicated due to the large amount of debris from the hurricane and persistent weather conditions that challenge the safety of electric crews.
According to Fox Weather, Hurricane Beryl hit the city of Matagorda as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning, resulting in wind gusts of over 90 mph, a 3-6 foot storm surge, and heavy rain across the region. The outlet reported that the storm also resulted in multiple tornadoes spawning in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
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The National Weather Service in Houston issued a heat advisory on Tuesday due to temperatures exceeding 100 degrees in areas that were significantly impacted by the hurricane.
“While this would normally be below criteria, the widespread loss of power and A/C will make for dangerous conditions,” the National Weather Service warned. “Those working outside may not have a chance to properly cool off!”
According to Fox Weather, eight people were killed in the United States by Hurricane Beryl, increasing the total number of the storm’s fatalities to at least 19 as the storm traveled from the Windward Islands to the U.S.
Seven of the eight individuals killed in the United States were located in the Houston region. Three were killed by falling trees, three individuals drowned, and one individual was killed in a fire that officials believe was caused by lightning.
The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office also shared in a Facebook post that a woman was killed when a tree fell onto her house in Benton, Louisiana.
