NATIONAL NEWS

Houston residents left sweltering after Beryl with over 1.7 million still lacking power

Jul 9, 2024, 9:16 PM | Updated: Jul 11, 2024, 1:06 am

HOUSTON (AP) — The return of soaring heat in Houston has deepened the misery for people still without power after Hurricane Beryl crashed into Texas and left residents in search of places to cool off and fuel up as the extended outages strained one of the nation’s largest cities.

Frustration mounted that Houston appeared to buckle under a storm less powerful than previous ones and state officials faced questions over whether the power utility that covers much of the area had sufficiently prepared.

Nearly 36 hours after Beryl made landfall, Texas’ lieutenant governor said Tuesday that a sports and event complex would be used to temporarily hold up to 250 hospital patients who are awaiting discharge but cannot be released to homes with no power.

People were coping as best they could.

“We can handle it, but not the kids,” Walter Perez said as he arrived Tuesday at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, which served as a cooling center and distributed 40-bottle packs of water.

Perez said his wife, 3-year-old son, 3-week-old daughter and his father-in-law retreated from their apartment after a night he described as “bad, bad, bad, bad.”

Highs in the Houston area on Tuesday climbed back into the 90s (above 32.2 Celsius) with humidity that made it feel even hotter. Similar heat and humidity was expected on Wednesday. The National Weather Service described the conditions as potentially dangerous given the lack of power and air conditioning.

Beryl, which made landfall early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, has been blamed for at least seven U.S. deaths — one in Louisiana and six in Texas — and at least 11 in the Caribbean.

More than 1.7 million homes and businesses around Houston lacked electricity Tuesday night, down from a peak of over 2.7 million on Monday, storms in May killed eight people and left nearly 1 million without power amid flooded streets.

Patrons on Tuesday lined up on one block to eat at KFC, Jack in the Box or Denny’s. Dwight Yell took a disabled neighbor who did not have power to Denny’s for some food.

He complained that city and state officials did not alert residents well enough to a storm initially projected to land much farther down the coast: “They didn’t give us enough warning, where maybe we could go get gas or prepare to go out of town if the lights go out.”

Robin Taylor, who got takeout from Denny’s, has been living a hotel since her home was damaged by storms that hit the city in May. When Beryl hit, her hotel room flooded.

“No WiFi, no power, and it’s hot outside,” Taylor said. “People will die in this heat in their homes.”

Nim Kidd, head of the state’s division of emergency management, emphasized that restoring power was the top priority. CenterPoint Energy in Houston has said it aims to restore power to 1 million customers by the end of Wednesday.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is overseas, said nursing homes and assisted living centers were the highest priority. Sixteen hospitals were running on generator power Tuesday morning, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

An executive for CenterPoint Energy, which covers much of the Houston area, defended the utility’s preparation and response.

“From my perspective to have a storm pass at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, have those crews come in in the late evening, and have everything ready by 5 a.m. to go out and get out and start the workforce is rather impressive because we’re talking about thousands of crews,” Brad Tutunjian, vice president of regulatory policy with CenterPoint Energy, said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

Kyuta Allen brought her family to a Houston community center to cool down and use the internet.

“During the day you can have the doors open but at night you’ve got to board up and lock up – lock yourself like into a sauna,” she said.

___

Associated Press journalists Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland, congtributed.

National News

Associated Press

AP Race Call: Democrat Mark Takano wins reelection to U.S. House in California’s 39th Congressional District

Democratic Rep. Mark Takano won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing California on Monday. Takano defeated Republican David Serpa. The congressman is a long-time incumbent, the ranking member on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and also sits on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Takano was previously a classroom teacher and […]

1 hour ago

FILE - Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, July 22, 2024, in Washingt...

Associated Press

Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz, China hawk, to be his national security adviser

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has asked U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, a person familiar with the matter said Monday. The nod came despite simmering concerns on Capitol Hill about Trump tapping members of the House, where the final tally […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Beyonce, left, accepts the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, April 1, 202...

Associated Press

Queen Bey and Yale: The Ivy League university is set to offer a course on Beyoncé and her legacy

With a record 99 Grammy nominations and acclaim as one of the most influential artists in music history, pop superstar Beyoncé and her expansive cultural legacy will be the subject of a new course at Yale University next year. Titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music,” the one-credit class […]

4 hours ago

FILE - Genesis Lopez, 21, speaks with Santa Ana, Calif. resident Eduardo Entimio, 23, on Wednesday,...

Associated Press

Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Voters in a Southern California city rejected a measure that would have allowed residents who aren’t U.S. citizens to vote in local elections. Measure DD was rejected by 60% of the voters in Santa Ana, a city of about 310,000 in Orange County that’s southeast of Los Angeles, the Los […]

4 hours ago

FILE - Shoppers and pedestrians walk past a window display at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, Dec. 1...

Associated Press

Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light display in Manhattan changing up this season

NEW YORK (AP) — Dazzling displays of synchronized lights on the facade of Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in midtown Manhattan have thrilled holiday visitors for years. But the store’s holiday display will look a bit different this year, a spokesperson confirmed Monday. “In our 100th year, which also marks the anniversary of the flagship, […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

US military strikes Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. struck nine targets at two locations in Syria Monday to hit Iranian-aligned militias that had launched attacks on U.S. personnel over the last 24 hours, U.S. Central Command said. No U.S. personnel were injured in the attacks, but as of late Monday the Pentagon did not provide further details on […]

4 hours ago

Houston residents left sweltering after Beryl with over 1.7 million still lacking power