Four dead after fast, strong storms hit Houston

May 17 (UPI) – Four people have died after strong storms hit the Houston area on Thursday, officials said, as they warned the public to stay home.

Storms with winds of up to 100 miles per hour struck the Texas city on Thursday, causing widespread damage, officials said during a news conference.

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Houston Mayor John Whitmire urged the public to stay home Thursday evening and Friday as only essential workers will be allowed to go to work. Schools would also be closed.

“Stay home tonight,” he said. “If you are not an essential worker, do not go to work tomorrow.”

The public is advised to avoid the downtown area, which authorities said sustained significant storm damage.

“Please do not drive through downtown Houston tonight or anywhere else in the region where there was storm damage,” the National Weather Service Houston reiterated in an online statement late Thursday.

“There is widespread debris, glass and electrical wiring on the streets.”

Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said two of the deaths were due to fallen trees and a third was due to a crane incident. The cause of the fourth death was not disclosed.

According to poweroutage.us, the fast-moving storms knocked out power to nearly a million customers. Whitmire said it would take 24 hours to get most customers back online, while others would be without power for up to two days.

“We are responding to a large number of power outages caused by severe weather across portions of our service area,” CenterPoint Energy said in a statement. “Please be prepared for extended weather-related power outages and possible delays in some outage notifications.”