Texas weather: 1 million customers lost power in tornado-ravaged state as storms batter Dallas and Houston

CNN
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More than a million customers in Texas were left without power Tuesday as powerful storms brought a new round of severe weather to the state, still reeling from a near-relentless parade of destructive and deadly storms in recent recent weeks.

The storms dumped hurricane-force wind gusts in the Dallas area, with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport recording a 77 mph wind gust early Tuesday as power outages in the area began to skyrocket.

The same devastating storms that ravaged Dallas then hit Houston with hurricane-force winds Tuesday afternoon. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston recorded a wind gust of 75 mph.

Power outages began intensifying early Tuesday morning in the Dallas area, then spread south as storms roared across the state, according to PowerOutage.us. Hundreds of thousands of outages occurred in Dallas County, where authorities issued a disaster declaration and warned that outages could last for several days.

READ: White House announces action to modernize power grid and pave way for fewer outages

These storms came even as some residents still mourn at least seven people killed in the state during severe storms over Memorial Day weekend. In total, nearly two dozen people, including four children, were killed in five states as storms battered the central United States during the holiday season, and several communities are grappling with significant loss of life. homes and businesses.

Parts of Texas and far western Louisiana face the most serious severe weather threat Tuesday. Large hail, lightning and wind gusts up to 80 mph are the main threats from any storm. A few tornadoes could also occur, according to the National Weather Service.

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Some of the same areas buffeted by storms early Tuesday could encounter more storms Tuesday evening as another cycle kicks in late afternoon across West Texas and Oklahoma and heads east.

The weather has already caused misery for hundreds of travelers. More than 600 flights to and from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport have been canceled – and more than 900 flights to and from both airports have been delayed, according to FlightAware data.

More than 75 flights to and from William P. Hobby Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston were canceled, while more than 530 were delayed.

Sunday was the busiest severe weather day of the year so far, with more than 600 reports of strong winds or hail in more than 20 states, including gusts over 75 mph and hail the size of a softball. Twenty-six tornado reports were also made across 10 states. The storms turned homes and businesses into piles of rubble, tossed cars and brought down power lines.

It could take days to fully restore power to the Dallas-Fort Worth area after severe storms unleashed hurricane-force wind gusts Tuesday morning. Dallas is the second major Texas city to see its critical electrical infrastructure damaged by severe weather in less than two weeks.

“Unfortunately, this will be a multi-day power outage situation, similar to what occurred in Harris County and Houston,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins warned during the hearing. a press conference on Tuesday.

A derecho and tornado in mid-May blew 100 mph wind gusts through metro Houston, killing several people and knocking out power for days.

The extent of the damage to the Dallas area’s electrical infrastructure is still being assessed, but the current prognosis is concerning, according to Grant Cruise, a spokesman for Oncor, the largest utility company in the State.

“We had a significant number of lines go down because of this weather event,” Cruise said during Tuesday’s news conference. “In many cases these will not be simple repairs, we are looking at a complete rebuild of parts of our area.”

The storm damage prompted Jenkins to issue a disaster declaration for Dallas County.

The outages come as some Texans head to the polls Tuesday for primary runoff elections. More than a third of Dallas County polling places were without power Tuesday afternoon, according to Jenkins.

Summer heat will ease in Texas this week, but those without power or a reliable way to cool down could still face the risk of dangerous heat stroke or heat exhaustion .

CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this report.