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Southeast Texas residents are facing their sixth consecutive day of extreme heat without air conditioning, as they scramble for cool shelters, food, safe drinking water, and healthcare resources. Over 760,000 power customers in the region remain without electricity after Hurricane Beryl battered the Gulf Coast on Monday, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 people in Texas, two in Vermont, and one in Louisiana.
Hospitals, assisted living facilities, schools, and water treatment plants are struggling with resource shortages due to the outages, exacerbating frustrations among residents over the perceived lack of preparedness by Houston’s main utility provider, CenterPoint Energy, and renewing concerns about the state’s power grid reliability.
Jordyn Rush, a 32-year-old pregnant resident of Houston, expressed her anxiety as the intense heat prevents her from sleeping and her refrigerator remains empty during the outage, complicating her preparations for a C-section scheduled in 12 days. “It’s been an absolute nightmare,” Rush said. “I’m on the verge of a mental breakdown. At this point, I can’t tell you the last time I was able to get a full night of sleep because it’s so hot. The lack of sleep is definitely wearing on me.”
CenterPoint Energy announced plans to restore power to an additional 350,000 customers by Sunday. However, the company warned that half a million homes and businesses in the Houston area might remain without power until next week, even as triple-digit heat indices continue.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick criticized the utility, stating, “We should not have roughly a million homes and businesses without power this far out. We should not have had almost every traffic light down through yesterday, with many still down. We should not have had nine fire stations without power. Seniors in assisted living and nursing homes should have been more of a priority for power restoration.”
Since Hurricane Beryl hit, daily heat advisories have been issued for the greater Houston area, with temperatures reaching the 90s and triple-digit heat indices. The combination of extreme heat and power outages has led to dangerous conditions, including a rise in carbon monoxide poisoning cases as residents use generators to cool their homes.
In Fort Bend County, over 41 people suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Judge KP George. In Harris County, at least two people died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and fire departments received over 200 related calls within 24 hours. The US Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency for Texas, citing the severe heat and limited electricity as particularly dangerous for vulnerable populations and those dependent on medical equipment.
A 71-year-old woman near Crystal Beach died after her oxygen machine ran out of battery power and her generator failed. CrowdSource Rescue, a nonprofit organization, has identified roughly 120 senior living facilities in need of assistance and has delivered generators and supplies to 16 of them.
Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd reported that a dozen hospitals in the Houston area are in a state of “internal disaster,” and over 40 dialysis clinics are struggling with outages. The strain on hospitals has led city officials to set up overflow beds in an indoor sports stadium.
Residents at home are also facing significant challenges, with many losing food stored in their warming refrigerators and struggling to find food and water as numerous stores remain closed. Government offices, food banks, and other public services are working to distribute food to underserved areas, while 135 wastewater treatment plants remain offline due to storm damage and power outages.
For Rush, who has gestational diabetes, maintaining her strict diet has been difficult. “I have to go in next week to do a pre-anesthesia lab draw and I’m hoping that my labs aren’t crazy from a lack of nutrition and water,” she said. “My heartburn is out of control. I feel like I’m getting dehydrated.”
Hurricane Beryl’s impact on the Houston area marks an unusually early and severe start to the hurricane season, knocking out power for over 2 million customers, only about two months after a powerful derecho damaged skyscrapers and transmission towers, leaving downtown Houston in darkness.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has granted financial assistance to Harris County and 14 other Texas counties to help families affected by Hurricane Beryl with substantial home repairs and recovery efforts.