Over 1 Million Houston Customers Without Power Days After Hurricane Beryl

More than 1 million customers in Houston are still without power three days after Hurricane Beryl devastated the area, causing rising frustrations with CenterPoint and local officials. As of Thursday at 12:40 p.m., 1,096,938 customers remained without power, according to CenterPoint's website.

In a Wednesday evening update, CenterPoint announced plans to restore power to an additional 400,000 customers by Friday and another 350,000 by Sunday. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, criticized CenterPoint for not burying power lines over the past decades, pointing to recurring issues highlighted by previous hurricanes such as Hurricane Ike in 2008.

"We're going through the same thing over and over again," said Garcia, who has been without power for three days. She emphasized the need for critical facilities like schools, clinics, hospitals, and fire stations to maintain power during hurricanes.

Garcia expressed her frustration in a letter to CenterPoint's leaders and promised Congressional oversight of the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) as they investigate the issues. She has not ruled out pushing the House to hold hearings on the matter.

CenterPoint likened Hurricane Beryl to Hurricane Ike during a PUC meeting, pointing to the high winds impacting the area. PUC commissioners urged CenterPoint to communicate better with customers and work on "rebuilding trust." The meeting also covered new strategies for stronger poles and wires to prevent future outages.

Source: houstonchronicle.com