More than 700,000 people in Houston still without power after deadly storms Thursday night

The National Weather Service recorded wind speeds of up to 70-75 mph during the deadly storms that hit the Houston area Thursday evening, senior meteorologist Josh Lichter said.

Officials will have a better idea of ​​the precise numbers from the storm system that hit the city after surveying the area Friday. Tornadoes were reported to have affected the Cypress area as well as Waller County to the northwest, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Janice Maldonado, who said no tornadoes had been confirmed as of 9 a.m. Friday.

At least four people died Thursday due to severe weather, according to the city of Houston.

“It started pretty much in and around the Cypress area,” Lichter said. “These speeds, again based on radar, increased as we headed toward the Houston area, particularly downtown where many windows of some skyscrapers were blown out. These winds continued up to the west end of Galveston Bay, and that’s where we had another one of those 74 mph wind gusts measured by one of the stations there .

Tom Perumean

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Houston Public Media

Thousands of people still without electricity

More than 700,000 people were still without power Friday morning around Houston, according to CenterPoint Energy.

CenterPoint crews were working to assess damage and make repairs, but urged customers to prepare for extended weather-related outages and delays in their outage notifications.

In Cypress, transmission lines collapsed during extreme wind gusts Thursday evening near West and Fry roads.

School closures

Dozens of school districts will not hold classes Friday as officials plan to assess damage from Thursday night’s storms that shattered windows and left trees on roads.

At least four people died in storms that ripped through Houston Thursday night, officials said.

RELATED: At least four dead after severe storms hit Houston on Thursday

“Initial indications are that fallen trees caused two of the deaths,” Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said Thursday evening. “One of them was also a crane accident that was toppled by the wave of strong winds. So right now the Houston Police are on scene and doing their investigation so we don’t know the exact cause of death, but that’s what the indications are at the moment.”

Jack Williams

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Houston Public Media

The independent school districts of Houston, Cy-Fair, Spring Branch, Conroe, Sheldon, Crosby, Cleveland, Klein, Shepherd, Spring, Hempstead, Aldine and Galena Park are among those that will be closed Friday.

Most Harris County district courts will also be closed Friday and jury service has been canceled.

Broken glass was strewn across some downtown streets after storms and strong winds battered the area. Downed trees stretched across streets in northwest Houston and Montrose.

Tom Peruman

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Houston Public Media

METRO services, express lanes impacted

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), the region’s public transportation provider, is reducing and modifying its services Friday in response to Thursday evening’s storm.

Jack Williams

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Houston Public Media

All park and ride services are suspended until further notice, METRO announced Friday morning. Delays are also expected for buses as well as for METROLift and the transit company’s curb2curb service, as well as reduced frequency and shuttle bus service for the METRORail Green, Purple and Red lines.

Additionally, high-occupancy vehicle lanes and express lanes will be closed on Interstate 45, I-69/US 59 and US 290.

This is a developing story.

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