More than a million people in Houston remain without power three days after Hurricane Beryl struck the city, leaving residents sweltering in triple-digit heat. The prolonged outage has sparked widespread outrage against CenterPoint Energy, the electric utility company responsible for the region.
Despite no damage to the electrical grid from the Category 1 hurricane, over a million people are facing a fourth day without power and air conditioning. The outage has already led to several deaths, including at least two people who died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by using generators.
This is a failure by CenterPoint,” said Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick during a Thursday afternoon press conference. It appears they were not as prepared as they should have been and not ready to go as quickly as they could have been. Get the power back on. We’ll talk about what happened before the storm later.” He promised that the state would investigate the utility.
Local Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia expressed her frustration on social media, tweeting, “Living without electricity isn’t just inconvenient—it’s dangerous. @CenterPoint, your failure during this crisis is unacceptable. Texans deserve reliable power, especially after natural disasters. This isn’t just poor service; it’s a risk to our lives.”
CenterPoint officials confirmed that the ongoing power failure is due to damaged and downed power lines, not an electrical grid failure. They noted that power has been restored to approximately 1.7 million people, but at least a million residents are still without electricity.
Local businessman and philanthropist Mattress Mack turned one of his furniture stores into a refuge, providing food and a place for residents to charge their phones. “Right now, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask our friends at CenterPoint and all the elected officials to let’s solve this mess. People can’t live without electricity,” he pleaded online.
The crisis is impacting hospitals in Harris County, with 12 hospitals on ‘internal disaster’ status. Field hospitals have been set up at NRG Stadium, home of the NFL Houston Texans, where 911 patients are cared for. Joel Osteen’s megachurch Lakewood Church is operating as a cooling station, offering a place for residents to sit in air conditioning and charge their electronics.
Compounding the problem, CenterPoint’s outage map went down on Monday, leaving residents without updates on when power might be restored. The utility has since provided an online map as a temporary solution, but it has been criticized for inaccuracies.
While CenterPoint and state officials insist they were prepared, with 11,500 electrical linemen ready to work as soon as the storm passed, residents are frustrated by the sight of idle utility trucks. One lineman told KHOU that he had been on the clock since 6 a.m. but was only sent out to begin working around 11:30 a.m.
As the heat wave continues, the demand for accountability and immediate action grows louder.
