Threats hurled at workers trying to restore power after Hurricane Beryl, Texas cops say

UPDATE: This story has been updated with a statement from CenterPoint Energy.

As utility workers push to restore power one week after Hurricane Beryl swept through the Houston area, some frustrated residents have hurled threats at the line crews, Texas officials said.

“I understand the ang[er] and frustration of being without electricity , but you don’t take it into your own hands and harass or threaten the linemen,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said.

Frustrated residents told resting workers that they “don’t deserve to eat” and even pointed AK-47 guns at them as they worked, Ed Allen, representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 66, said in a July 14 news conference.

A 38-year-old man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he pointed a gun at a utility worker on July 13, Houston police said.

Many of the thousands of workers are from neighboring communities and states, Allen added.

“We’ve had guys with guns pulled on them. We’ve had guys with rocks picked up and slung at them. We’ve had people brandishing AK-47s at them. It needs to stop,” Allen said.

More than 385,000 people were without power as of July 14, nearly a week since the hurricane struck the city, according to Houston Public Media. Three heat-related deaths have been attributed to the power loss caused by Beryl as of July 13, KHOU reported.

CenterPoint Energy, the power company working to restore power after the hurricane, said 98% of the impacted customers will have power by the end of the day on July 17, according to a news release. The company said they had restored power for over 2 million customers as of July 15.

A spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy told McClatchy News they have received multiple reports of violence toward workers.

“This includes reports of a drive-by shooting at one of our staging sites and several crews having guns pulled on them the past two days,” the spokesperson said in an email July 15. “This morning someone stopped and began hitting one of our mutual assistance trucks with a pipe.”

Officials have called for the harassment toward workers to stop, saying it can delay the power restoration.

“All that does is make it harder and longer to get your lights back on,” Allen said.

Texas officials said power should have been restored sooner, and that the power company needs to be “held accountable” for the delay, Allen said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbot called for an investigation into “why some Texas utilities were unable to restore power for days following a Category 1 hurricane,” according to a letter released July 14.

“The failure of power companies to provide power to their customers is unacceptable. CenterPoint has repeatedly failed to deliver power to its customers,” Abbot said in a July 14 news release.

Hurricane Beryl knocked out power for over 2 million customers in Houston, CNN reported. The hurricane hit the city on July 8.

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