‘Don’t let the clear skies fool you.’ Houston’s widespread power outages will lead to more danger

City of Houston officials urged residents to not grow complacent as the sun broke through the clouds Monday afternoon, illuminating a city trashed by Hurricane Beryl.

“Don’t let the clear skies fool you,” Mayor John Whitmire said. “We still have dangerous circumstances.”

Officials also warned of dangers on the roadways and encouraged residents to stay home for the remainder of Monday.

Hundreds of street lights across the city are not functioning, creating a risk of traffic accidents, officials said. There is also still standing water across many of the city’s roads.

“It’s going to take us a number of days and probably weeks to fully assess and repair all this damage,” Houston Public Works Chief Operating Officer Randy Macchi said.

Whitmire said he has asked for a federal disaster declaration for the storm. At the news conference, the mayor was flanked by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, who both said they would support the request for a disaster declaration.

A formal request for the declaration is expected to be sent by Acting Gov. Dan Patrick in the coming hours, Cruz said. After that point, it will be up to President Joe Biden to declare a federal disaster, uncorking federal aid for the region.