Most people in the Houston area are getting power back after the storm, but some may have to wait until the weekend.

JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press

18 minutes ago

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, center, tours an apartment complex damaged by severe storms in Spring Branch in Houston, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)

HOUSTON (AP) — Power should be restored by Wednesday evening to nearly all Houston-area homes and businesses left in the dark by last week’s deadly storm, officials say.

But it’s possible that up to 20,000 customers will have to wait until the weekend before their lights come back on.

About 98% of residents and businesses should have their power fully restored by the end of Wednesday, Brad Tutunjian, vice president of regulatory policy at CenterPoint Energy, told Houston City Council members at their weekly meeting .

At the peak of the power outage, approximately 922,000 customers were without service. By Wednesday evening, that figure had fallen to around 42,000.

“We are working around the clock to try to get them up as quickly and safely as possible. I would also like to acknowledge the patience of our customers,” said Tutunjian.

The May 16 storm killed at least eight people, caused considerable damage and paralyzed much of Houston. Thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds devastated the city, reducing businesses and other structures to piles of debris, uprooting trees and shattering glass from downtown skyscrapers. The storm spawned two tornadoes – one near Cypress, a northwest suburb of Houston, and the other in Waller County, located northwest of Houston.

The National Weather Service determined the storm was a weather event known as a derecho, meteorologist Jeff Evans said. A derecho is a widespread, long-lasting wind storm associated with a band of fast-moving showers or thunderstorms, according to the weather service.

The derecho had hurricane-force winds in a 5-mile (8-kilometer) to 8-mile (13-kilometer) swath across the Houston area, with some pockets of winds reaching up to 100 mph (160 km/h). , Evans said. The straight-line winds of a derecho can be more damaging than a tornado because they can last for several minutes compared to the instantaneous blow of a tornado, Evans said.

Tutunjian said the 2% of customers — about 20,000 — likely to still be without power after Wednesday live in areas with “significant damage” to equipment.

Others need to repair their neighborhood’s transformers or fuses, which can take time, Tutunjian said. And other customers will need to repair damaged electrical equipment they are responsible for in their home before they can restore power.

“The 98 (percent) is impressive, unless you’re one of the 20,000,” Mayor John Whitmire said, adding that CenterPoint overall did a good job restoring power.

Tutunjian said he expects crews to continue working through the weekend.

The Houston area is expected to experience potentially dangerous heat this weekend, with temperatures and humidity levels above normal for the month of May, according to the National Weather Service.

The deadly storm came as the Houston area and several Texas counties to the north were still recovering from flooding caused by heavy rains in late April and early May.

Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin said last week’s storm should spark discussions about fortifying power lines and other infrastructure in Houston.

The city of more than 2 million people is one of the most flood-prone metropolitan areas in the country and has a long history of dealing with devastating weather, including hurricanes.

Tutunjian said CenterPoint has worked to make its system more resilient, but more study is needed.

“We have some difficult questions that we need to discuss. And again, we’re not even in hurricane season yet and we still have thousands of customers without power right now,” Kamin said.

Hurricane season begins June 1.

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