Officials expected power to be restored to nearly all homes and businesses in the Houston area affected by last week’s deadly storm by late Wednesday. However, about 20,000 customers might have to wait until the weekend for their electricity to come back on.
Brad Tutunjian, vice president of regulatory policy at CenterPoint Energy, informed members of the Houston City Council during their weekly meeting that around 98% of residents and businesses were on track to have their power fully restored by the end of Wednesday.
At the peak of the outage, approximately 922,000 customers were without power. By Wednesday evening, that number had dropped to about 42,000.
“We are working non-stop to restore power to them as quickly and safely as possible. I also want to acknowledge the patience of our customers,” Tutunjian said.
A tree snapped with power cables (Via Jason Miller/Shutterstock)
The storm on May 16 caused extensive damage, resulting in at least eight fatalities and bringing widespread destruction across Houston. Thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds swept through, leaving debris, uprooted trees, and shattered glass from downtown skyscrapers in their wake.
The storm also generated two tornadoes—one near Cypress in northwest Houston and another in Waller County to the northwest. According to meteorologist Jeff Evans of the National Weather Service, the storm was classified as a derecho, a long-lasting windstorm associated with a line of fast-moving showers or thunderstorms.
