Frustrations build in Houston heat after Beryl leaves millions without power

HOUSTON (AP) — The return of scorching heat to Houston on Tuesday added to the misery of millions still without power after Hurricane Beryl slammed into Texas and left residents searching for places to cool off and refuel as prolonged outages strained one of the nation’s largest cities.

Frustration is growing in Houston, which appears to have buckled under a less powerful storm than previous ones. State officials have faced questions about the Houston Power Company’s preparedness, including one who said he would not make a judgment until the lights were back on.

Hospitals have also begun to feel the strain: Nearly 36 hours after Beryl made landfall, Texas’ lieutenant governor said a sports and events complex would be used to temporarily house up to 250 patients who are awaiting discharge but cannot be released to homes without power.

People did their best to cope with the situation.

“We can handle it, but not the kids,” said Walter Perez, 49, as he arrived early Tuesday at famed pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, which was serving as a refreshment center and handing out 40-packs of water.

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

Maximum temperatures in Houston soared to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, and humidity could make it feel even hotter. The National Weather Service described conditions as potentially dangerous given the lack of electricity and air conditioning.

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

Nearly 2 million homes and businesses around Houston were without power Tuesday, down from a peak of more than 2.7 million Monday, according to PowerOutage.us. For many, it was a miserable repeat of the May storms that killed eight people and left nearly a million people without power in flooded streets.

Food rotted in dilapidated refrigerators in neighborhoods that needed air conditioning. Long lines of cars and people lined up outside any fast-food restaurant, food truck or gas station that had electricity and was open.

Customers lined up for a block to eat at KFC, Jack in the Box or Denny’s, or just to get some fresh air for a few minutes. Dwight Yell, 54, had electricity in his home but took a disabled neighbor, who didn’t, to Denny’s for a bite to eat.

He complained that city and state officials failed to adequately warn residents of a storm that was initially expected to make landfall much further down the coast: “They didn’t give us enough warning, where we might be able to get gas or be prepared to leave town if the lights went out.”

Robin Taylor, who gets her takeout from Denny’s, was tired of being in the same situation. She’s been living in a hotel since her home was damaged by the May storms. When Beryl arrived, her hotel room was flooded.

She was angry that Houston appeared unprepared to handle a Category 1 storm after weathering much stronger storms in the past.

“No wifi, no electricity, and it’s hot outside. It’s dangerous for people. That’s really the big problem,” Taylor said. “People are going to die because of this heat in their homes.”

Nim Kidd, head of the state’s Division of Emergency Management, stressed that restoring power is the top priority. CenterPoint Energy in Houston said it aims to restore power to 1 million customers by the end of the day Wednesday.

But for others, it could take days or longer for power to be restored. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting for Gov. Greg Abbott, said nursing homes and assisted living facilities were the top priority. Sixteen hospitals were running on generators as of Tuesday morning, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Patrick urged utilities to restore power quickly and said he would assess later whether they had done enough before the storm.

Brad Tutunjian, vice president of regulatory policy at CenterPoint Energy, said at a news conference Tuesday that the company was fully prepared for the storm, and because it didn’t leave the area until Monday afternoon, it took until Tuesday morning for many crews to get to work.

An executive with CenterPoint Energy, which covers much of the Houston area, defended the company’s preparedness and response.

“From my perspective, to see a storm come through at 3 p.m., to see these crews come in late in the evening and have everything ready by 5 a.m. to go out and start working is pretty impressive because we’re talking about thousands of crews,” Brad Tutunjian, vice president of regulatory policy at CenterPoint Energy, said during a press briefing Tuesday.

Kyuta Allen took her family to a Houston community center to relax and use the internet for work and night classes she’s taking online.

“During the day you can keep the doors open, but at night you have to barricade and lock them – lock yourself in like a sauna,” she said.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency Tuesday afternoon for parts of the state after trees were downed, homes damaged and thousands lost power.

When Beryl made landfall, it was far less powerful than the Category 5 behemoth that carved a deadly path through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Beryl was the first storm to reach Category 5 status in the Atlantic. In Jamaica, officials said Monday that islanders will face food shortages after Beryl destroyed more than $6.4 million worth of crops and supporting infrastructure.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland contributed to this report.