Deadly storm hits Houston area, knocking out power for nearly 900,000 CenterPoint customers

Severe storms tore through the Houston area Thursday evening, causing widespread damage, killing at least four people and leaving nearly 900,000 CenterPoint Energy customers without power.

Fierce winds knocked over power lines, blew out windows and toppled trees. The National Weather Service said gusts of about 60 mph to 75 mph were measured, with the highest winds reported at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William Hobby Airport, Cypress and east Harris County.

“We’ve had, unfortunately, four fatalities,” Mayor John Whitmire said at a news briefing. “We’re still in recovery mode.” Whitmire said winds reached as high as 100 mph in some places.

With much of the city without power, Houston ISD canceled class for Friday after coordinating with city officials. Cy-Fair, Goose Creek and Spring Branch school districts also canceled Friday classes.

“Downtown is a mess,” said Whitmire, who encouraged the business community to allow employees to work from home while city crews cleaned up debris and broken glass on streets and sidewalks.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who was in Washington when the storm struck, said multiple transmission towers had collapsed in the western portion of the county, and it was unclear how long it will take to clean up roadways and restore power.

“What we know so far is that at least four people are reported dead, there are widespread power outages and infrastructure damage to the power grid, as well as significant property damage.” Hidalgo said in a statement Thursday night.

While the worst of the storm is over, Houston Office of Emergency Management spokesperson Brent Taylor warned that Houstonians should stay home for the night.

“Stay off the roads. Don’t go out. The storm itself has passed but that does not necessarily mean it is safe to drive,” Taylor said. “Right now, unless you are absolutely critical or a first responder, you need to stay home or stay where you are.”

Anastasia Gill said she was just trying to get home when the storm barreled through.

The 38-year-old was driving home to her house in Shepherd Forest after picking her car up from the repair shop when the tornado warning flashed across her cell phone.

The sky turned dark. The stoplights went out at the exact same time. The car began to shake. Gill pulled over as hail began to pelt her windshield.

“(My neighbor) who lives across the street called me and said, ’Hey, there’s a big tree on your house,’” Gill said. A massive oak from her backyard had smashed into the roof.

Taylor said officials will start looking into the “recovery process” once debris and damages are cleared. In the meantime, Whitmire also urged residents to avoid all unnecessary travel.

As of 8:30 p.m., more than 896,500 customers were impacted by widespread power outages, according to CenterPoint’s outage tracker. That’s more than 40 percent of the utility’s nearly 2 million customers .

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s spokesperson for emergency management said they are trying to respond as quickly as they can to people that need help.

“Everybody’s moving as fast as we can,” Spokesperson Angelica Luna Kaufman said. “Obviously, we’ve been getting a lot of reports of damage, but people are still coming out of their homes, seeing what damage is going on.”

Residents should call 311 to report downed power lines or other damages that impact safety. Only call 911 for life-threatening emergencies.

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