As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to hundreds of thousands after deadly storms that left at least seven dead, it will do so amid a warning of smog and scorching temperatures that could pose health risks.
Mark Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said on Saturday that high temperatures are expected to reach around 90 degrees (32.2 degrees Celsius) during the beginning of next week, and heat indexes are likely to approach 100 degrees (38 degrees). Celsius) by mid-week.
“We expect the heat impact to gradually increase… We will start to see heat risks increase from Tuesday through Wednesday into Friday,” Chenard said.
The heat index is what temperature feels like to the human body when humidity combines with air temperature, according to the weather service.
“Do not overdo the cleaning,” the Houston Weather Service office said in a post on the social media platform X.
In addition to the heat, the Houston area could experience poor air quality over the weekend.
Heavy rain is likely in eastern Louisiana and central Alabama on Saturday, and parts of Louisiana are also at risk of flooding.
The Houston Department of Health said it will distribute 400 free portable air conditioners to area seniors, people with disabilities and caregivers of disabled children to combat the heat.
Five cooling centers were also opened – four in Houston and one in Kingwood.
Hundreds of thousands are still without electricity
Widespread damage from Thursday’s storms brought much of Houston to a standstill. Thunderstorms and high winds swept through the city, destroying the facade of a brick building and leaving trees, debris and shattered glass in the streets. A tornado also touched down near the suburb of Cypress, northwest of Houston.
More than half a million Texas homes and businesses remained without power by midday Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us. Another 21,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, which was hit by strong winds and a suspected hurricane.
“It was a madhouse here,” Cypress resident Haley O’Bannon said. “You know we had no power. No hot water. It was really crazy.”
“Everyone is pretty resilient, everyone is trying to get back to normal and help each other the best way they can,” O’Bannon added.
CenterPoint Energy, which has deployed 1,000 employees in the area and is requesting 5,000 more, said that restoring power could take several days or longer in some areas, and that customers need to be sure their homes can be safely reconnected.
“In addition to damaging CenterPoint Energy’s electrical infrastructure and equipment, the severe weather may have caused damage to customer-owned equipment” such as the weather head, which is where power enters a home, the company said.
CenterPoint added that customers must have repairs completed by a qualified electrician before service can be restored.
Torn high-voltage transmission towers and downed power lines pose a double challenge for utility companies because the damage affected transmission and distribution systems, according to Alexandria von Mayer, an electricity and energy expert who described this as rare. Damage to only the distribution system is more common, von Mayer said.
How quickly repairs are made will depend on a variety of factors, including the time it takes to assess the damage, replace equipment, road access issues, and workforce availability.
The storm caught many of the guards by surprise
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported late Friday that three people died during the storm, including an 85-year-old woman whose house caught fire after being struck by lightning, and a 60-year-old man who tried to use his car to generate electricity. energy. Its own oxygen tank.
Houston Mayor John Whitmer said earlier that at least four more people were killed in the city when storms swept through Harris County, which includes Houston.
Houston-area school districts canceled classes Friday for more than 400,000 students and closed government offices.
Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said Saturday that he hopes schools will reopen Monday, but that depends on restoring power in school buildings.
“If there was no power in the school, it would remain closed,” Miles told reporters during a tour of the badly damaged Sinclair Elementary School.
Whitmer warned of the deployment of police forces, including state troopers, who were sent to the area to prevent looting. He added that the speed and intensity of the storm surprised many.
Noelle Delgado, executive director of Houston Pets Alive, said she stopped by the animal rescue Thursday evening and found the dogs and cats — more than 30 in all — safe, but the building’s awning had been torn off, the sign was disfigured and water was seeping inside.
She was hoping to find foster homes for the animals.
“I can definitely say this storm was a little different,” she said. “I was terrified.”
Federal and state help is on the way
In light of the damage from the storm, both Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Whitmer signed disaster declarations, paving the way for state and federal assistance in storm recovery.
A separate disaster declaration from President Joe Biden makes federal funding available for people in seven Texas counties — including Harris — that have been affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding since April 26.
(Tags for translation)Houston area
