HOUSTON — A destructive and deadly storm moved through the Houston area on Thursday, knocking out power, damaging structures and scattering debris everywhere. At least seven people were killed.
After the storm passed, the cleanup began, but there are some things Houston city officials want you to know to stay safe.
- Power outages: CenterPoint was dealing with massive power outages across the region. They told people to be prepared for extended periods of time without power. CenterPoint shared a map Saturday night showing estimates of when power would be restored.
- Call 311: If you notice debris on the road or other road hazards, call 311. Only call 911 for life-threatening situations.
- Stay away from power lines: Assume all lines are energized and stay 35 feet away, according to CenterPoint. Never spray a sparking or burning wire with water and never try to remove a tree limb or other item. If you see a downed power line, call CenterPoint Energy at 713-207-2222.
- Report damage: The Texas Department of Insurance has steps to take to recover following the storm, including how to file a claim. They also have information on how to find reputable contractors.
- State of Texas damage reports: The state wants to hear from you if you had damage. Instructions in both English and Spanish
STORM RECOVERY LINKS: HOW TO VET A CONTRACTOR | TIPS ON FILING CLAIMS | USEFUL PHONE NUMBERS FOR RECOVERY | HOW TO APPLY FOR FEMA RELIEF | HOW TO SAFELY USE A GENERATOR | COOLING CENTERS AND FOOD DISTRIBUTION
City of Houston update (5/19)
Travel and traffic
- Asking everyone to minimize travel to the affected areas
- Street and traffic light outages persist
- There is an 'exclusion zone' downtown, meaning no traffic is allowed from Louisiana to Travis and McKinney to Polk.
- Workers will be addressing broken windows in the area. The city asks that you do not obstruct their work.
- Downtown remains dangerous because of flying glass
City services and city employees
- City services will continue
- Solid waste will begin picking up storm related debris and garbage. They ask that residents set the items out on the curb without obstructing the street.
- Municipal courts will not hold session. The city said that only 'tier one' employees are required to come in for magistrate needs.
Early voting going on as scheduled
Thursday's storms damaged a facility that houses some election equipment, but that isn't stopping early voting for the May 28 primary runoff election, according to clerk Teneshia Hudspeth. There are just some modifications. You can read about it all here.
Schools making calls (5/19)
We're hearing from different school districts about their plans for Monday. HISD has a list of schools that will be open. Cy Fair ISD, Galena Park ISD and Channelview ISD will be closed, while Katy ISD, Crosby ISD and Tomball ISD will be open. See the full list.
Carbon Monoxide death (5/19)
During a news conference Sunday, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña discussed generator safety and saidthere wass one confirmed fatality from carbon monoxide.
HISD food banks (5/19)
The Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank will provide free food and cleaning supplies to families affected by the storm, up to 500 families per location.
Monday, May, 20
Opens at 10 a.m.
HISD Brock
1417 Houston Ave., Houston, Texas 77007
Morefield Boy & Girls Club
5950 Selisky Road, Houston, Texas 77007
Tuesday, May 21
Opens at 9 a.m.
Youth Development Center
6050 Bretshire Drive, Houston, Texas77061
Storm updates
Status of school districts reopening Monday (5/18)
Several school districts canceled classes on Friday due to damage and loss of power. Crews worked through the weekend to assess the damage and restore power. We’re keeping tabs on where districts stand on students returning on Monday.
As of 6 p.m. Saturday, Houston ISD said 77 campuses were without power. They said it’s their goal to have all students back on Monday. They said once power is restored to campuses, district crews will check air-conditioning, water and nutrition services.
The district said by noon Sunday, they will begin announcing campuses that will resume classes.
Other districts suffered significant damage to their campuses, like Cy Fair ISD and Spring Branch ISD. You can see the updates they've given on the status of their schools here.
Traffic signal light outages (5/18)
Power outages are also affecting traffic signal lights. TxDOT has a total of 1,100 signals throughout the Houston District. They said as of Saturday, about 125 signals are in current need of repair.
Crews from around the state have been mobilized to help with restoration efforts, according to TxDOT.
TxDOT is urging everyone to drive with caution.
Harris County Election Technology Center damaged (5/18)
The Harris County Election Technology Center, where a lot of election equipment is held, was damaged in Thursday's storms. The building that election worker trainings are held was also damaged and according to Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, is uninhabitable. She said in a news release that the availalbe of voting centers is also uncertain.
"I have been in constant communication with the Texas Secretary of State, members of the Commissioners Court, the County Attorney, and the Chairs of both major political parties," she said in the release. "We will continue to review the status of facilities, the early voting and Election Day infrastructure, and, most importantly, our ability to conduct the May 28 primary runoff elections."
Monday is the first day of early voting for the May 28 runoff elections. She said updates will be provided as they get them.
Updates will be provided once we determine how to proceed. The safety of our voters, poll workers, and election staff remains my top priority.
More distribution centers have been set up (5/18)
There are several cooling centers and distribution centers set up around the Houston area. We are keeping a running list. You can see the full list here.
CenterPoint update on power outages (5/18)
CenterPoint Energy’s damage assessment and restoration efforts are continuing. By 9:45 p.m., Saturday, CenterPoint was reporting 361,036 customers without power. Their tracker said that 275,532 customers had been restored in the prior 24 hours
In certain parts of the company’s service area where the damage to infrastructure was significant, restoration efforts are expected to take several days, and some of the hardest-hit areas could take longer.
The extensive damage includes downed transmission towers, poles and wires.
Due to the extent of the damage, CenterPoint is deploying mobile generation resources that will enable temporary power restoration to certain areas of our service territory, including critical facilities.
CenterPoint Energy urges customers to always stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines and damaged electric utility equipment. Treat all down and damaged equipment as energized and report them to the company at (713) 207-2222.
NWS: Damage caused by two EF-1 tornadoes and derecho (5/17)
The National Weather Service now says two EF-1 tornadoes touched down in Cypress and Waller Thursday night.
In the Greater Houston area, it was straight-line winds from a derecho storm event that caused seven deaths, extensive damage and massive power outages.
Entergy Texas power outages (5/17)
Entergy Texas crews worked around the clock to restore power to more than 85% of customers impacted by Thursday’s severe thunderstorms. As of 9:30 a.m. Saturday, approximately 4,500 customers were still without power, down from the peak of approximately 44,500 customers at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Customers in areas hit hardest by the storm could experience extended outages.
At least 7 storm-related deaths in Houston, Harris County (5/17)
Along with the four deaths in Houston, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says there were at least three more storm-related deaths in Harris County.
An 85-year-old woman died on Cypress Meadow Drive in a fire caused by lightning. A 57-year-old man died on Kilkenny Glenn Drive while trying to move a downed electrical pole. A 60-year-old man lost power so he went outside to plug in his oxygen tank. He was found unresponsive.
The Houston deaths include a 31-year-old mother of four in the East End and a man in the Heights who were killed by falling trees. A 71-year-old man died when a crane fell on his cement truck in the East End. We are waiting to learn more about the fourth victim.
RELATED: Houston storm deaths: Mother of 4 killed by tree in Houston's East End; 5 others died during storms
Memorial Park trees down (5/17)
Several roads, trails and restrooms are closed in Memorial Park because of significant damage from Thursday's storm.
The Memorial Park Conservancy is advising people to avoid coming to the park on Friday.
"Crews are working diligently to make our beautiful greenspace accessible again," the conservancy shared. "The Cullen Running Trails Center will also remain closed through Friday."
They'll post updates on their Instagram page.
Most Kroger stores are open (5/17)
All but one Krogers in the region are open.
The only closed location is at 12620 Woodforest Blvd. near the Cloverleaf area of east Houston.
Water distribution centers (5/17)
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee announced water distribution centers for those in need after the severe weather in Houston.
- The Eden Center at 7450 N. Wayside Dr. opened at 4 p.m.
- Green House International Church at 200 W. Green Road will open at 5:30 p.m.
CenterPoint power outage 4 p.m. update (5/17)
At 4 p.m. Friday, under 600,000 CenterPoint customers still didn't have power. That's down from nearly a million at the height of the storm.
Crews are still assessing damage including several critical transmission towers that were severely damaged by winds up to 100 mph.
"We're mobilizing all of our available resources, as well as mutual assistance resources, from nearby utility companies, as we work to quickly and safely restore power," CenterPoint said.
They have 2,000 employees and contractors already deployed and have requested another 4,000 from other areas.
The power company warn it could be several days before power is restored in some places, possibly even weeks in the hardest-hit areas.
Harris Health closes facilities, delays some openings due to power outages (5/17)
Harris Health said they will close or delay the opening several of its outpatient facilities on Friday. However, both of its hospitals—Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson—are operating as normal.
Full closure facilities are:
- Aldine
- Ambulatory Surgical Center at LBJ Campus
- Pediatric and Adolescent Center – CE Odom
- Cypress
- Danny Jackson
- Dental Center
- Gulfgate
- Margo Hilliard
- Northwest
- Nueva Casa
- Outpatient Center at LBJ Campus
- Settegast
- Sunset Heights
Delayed openings until noon:
- Acres Home
- Baytown
- Ben Taub Tower
- Casa de Amigos
- El Franco Lee
- LBJ Clinic Infusion Center, ENT, Oral Surgery, and Ophthalmology
- Martin Luther King
- Monroe
- Pediatric and Adolescent Center - Pasadena
- Sareen
- Smith (except Infusion Center and Radiation Therapy)
- Strawberry
- Squatty Lyons
- Thomas Street at Quentin Mease
- Vallbona
Other locations operating as normal are:
- Dialysis Center at Quentin Mease
- Endoscopy Center at Quentin Mease
- Smith Clinic: Infusion Therapy and Radiation Therapy
Patients with appointments to Harris Health facilities have been notified or are in the process of being notified about the effects of these closures and delayed openings
For more information on facility closures and operations, visit harrishealth.org.
Houston heavy trash pickup (5/17)
The City of Houston's Solid Waste department is suspending all services, including garbage, yard and tree waste Friday. They're also suspending recycling for the day because of the storm. If you need debris removal, call 311.
They sent out the following collection schedule.
Friday, May 17, 2024
NO COLLECTION SERVICES. All solid waste facilities and administrative offices will be closed except Neighborhood Depositories, which will operate normally. SWMD will be conducting city-wide damage assessments for storm debris collections.
Saturday, May 18, 2024
SWMD will collect Friday’s garbage routes. Recycling, yard, and tree waste will be collected on your next regularly scheduled collection day.
SWMD collection services will resume the regular schedule on Monday, May 20, 2024.
AT&T wireless service update (5/17)
AT&T released the following statement after Thursday’s storms:
“Some of our customers in the Greater Houston area may be experiencing wireless and wireline service impacts, primarily due to power outages from recent severe weather. We are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service as our network teams have begun making their initial assessment of the impact. We understand how important it is to stay connected and continue to work until all service is restored.
“Additional:
- Customers experiencing issues with their AT&T service can reach us at att.com, on the myAT&T app or over the phone. Customers looking to reach us via phone can contact us 24/7 at 800.288.2020 for Internet support.
- Wireline customers can also visit att.com/outages to sign up for one-time service restoration text alerts for internet and TV.”
CenterPoint update on outages Friday morning (5/17)
CenterPoint released a statement to customers following Thursday's severe weather. As of 1:02 p.m. Friday, there were more than 672,010 customers without power and large outages in west Houston and Cypress. That was down from 737,000 at 5:40 a.m.
"There has been damage to several of our facilities in our Houston-area service territory. As the line of severe weather has made its way through our region, it is now safe for our crews to begin assessing damage but can confirm we’ve experienced significant damage to our system. Restoration efforts will begin tonight (Thursday evening) but will ramp up in daylight hours as damage becomes more visible. We are committed to restoring power to our customers as safely and as quickly as possible.
"When restoring power, we begin with facilities vital to safety, health and welfare, such as hospitals, water treatment plants and public service facilities. While addressing key facilities, we follow our priority restoration process by making repairs to electrical facilities that will return power to the largest number of customers first. We then continue the restoration process by prioritizing repairs to benefit the greatest number of customers, until power is returned to everyone. Throughout the restoration process, we maintain contact with local emergency management agencies, news media and public officials.
"We’d like to remind our customers to stay at least 35 feet away from low-hanging, downed power lines or lines that could be in standing water and call 911 and report them to us at 713-207-2222.
HISD stadium lights out (5/17)
According to a report from our reporter Katiera Winfrey, it looks like all of the stadium lights at Houston Independent School District have been knocked down. Some have fallen on the stands and on the fence
METRO Houston update (5/17)
METRO Houston said all Park & Ride services are closed Friday along with the HOV lanes on the freeways. METRO manages all HOV lanes on all the freeways except for I-10.
Buses are running but also delayed.
The METRO Rail is limited with debris on the tracks. Some shuttles are running in place of the rail. People should not expect regular rail service today.
METRO HOV/HOT Express lanes will remain closed through morning and afternoon commutes, impacting the following roadways:
- I-45 North (North Freeway)
- I-45 South (Gulf Freeway)
- I-69 / U.S. Hwy. 59 North (Eastex Freeway)
- I-69 / U.S. Hwy. 59 South (Southwest Freeway)
- U.S. 290 West (Northwest Freeway)
Harris County courts closed (5/17)
Jury service is canceled for Friday due to the severe weather and the Harris County District Clerk’s Office is closed.
Houston courts closed (5/17)
City of Houston courts were closed Friday and the closure was extended into Saturday following Thursday's storms. All normal court operations are expected to resume Monday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Houston Health Department closed (5/16)
Due to widespread damage, the Houston Health Department reports that it will be closed on Friday.
Request from city (5/16)
The city, at Mayor Whitmire's request, is asking downtown employers to allow employees to work from home Friday.