This article was originally published by Ethan Huff at Natural News.
Much of southern Texas is without power after Tropical Storm Beryl, downgraded from a hurricane, made landfall in the Houston area in the early morning hours of July 8.
Reports indicate that “most” of Houston is without power and could remain that way for days amid record heat as the Texas energy grid struggles to stay online due to bad weather.
The nation’s fourth-largest city saw flooded streets, downed trees and power lines, and nonfunctional traffic lights as Beryl swept through the region. At least three people have died from the storm, including a Houston Police Department employee who reportedly drowned in his car.
When it first struck Houston, Beryl was a Category 1 hurricane that became a tropical storm rather quickly. Prior to hitting Texas, Beryl killed 11 people throughout the Caribbean.
Nearly 2.4 million electric utility customers in eastern Texas were still without power as of 3 am local time on July 9. Roughly 85 percent of homes and businesses served by CenterPoint Energy Inc., Houston’s primary electric utility, lost power during the storm.
By July 9, about one million of these customers saw restored power, CenterPoint Energy said in a notice. The company also brought in more than 10,000 workers to restore power as quickly as possible, though some of the grid was so damaged that it required replacement rather than just repair.
“I do not have power at my house,” commented Houston Mayor John Whitmire at a press conference. “I know what it’s like.”
(Related: New York will suffer blackouts on a regular basis once its 2040 zero emissions energy plan takes shape.)
Houston now under extreme heat advisory
Just as Beryl was finishing its route through Houston, the National Weather Service posted a heat advisory for the region
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at SHTF Plan