Deadly storms once again batter Houston; Hundreds of thousands across Texas without power

Deadly thunderstorms blew out windows in high-rise buildings, toppled trees and shut down hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Houston area on Thursday as they hit southeast Texas For the second time this month. At least four people died in the storms, Houston Mayor John Whitmire told reporters in a news conference Thursday evening.

“We have a storm with 100 mph winds, the equivalent of Hurricane Ike, causing significant damage downtown,” Whitmire said, adding that the region may also have been hit by tornadoes.

At least two of the deaths were caused by fallen trees, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told reporters. Another was caused by a “crane knocked over by the wind.”

Whitmire urged people to “stay home.”

“There are trees on the streets all over Houston,” Whitmire said.

Windows were lost in several downtown office buildings.

“There’s glass everywhere downtown, the traffic lights are out,” Whitmire said.

Flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for several counties into the evening, according to the Houston National Weather Service office.

“Take shelter now if you stand in the way of this storm. Go to the bottom floor!” The NWS office previously warned on social media.

The mayor said the city is working to clear a “backlog” of 911 emergency calls. Most were gas leaks and broken plumbing, Peña said.

Roads were flooded and trees were downed across the region. CBS affiliate KHOU-TV showed images of broken windows of an office building in downtown Houston, with the street below covered in glass. Video posted on social media showed a downtown street covered in rubble.

The video also appeared to show water being blown into Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, even though the stadium’s roof was closed. The Astros hosted the Oakland Athletics on Thursday.

“If you’re still there after an Astros game, don’t go west through downtown,” Whitmire said.

In total, nearly a million customers in Texas were without power late Thursday evening, according to utility PowerOutage.us. That number fell to about 834,000 as of 4 a.m. local time.

Of those, more than 808,000 customers were without power in and around Harris County, which includes Houston. More than 4.7 million people live in the district.

“I ask everyone to be patient and look out for their neighbors,” Whitmire said. “It will take 24 hours for much of this energy to be restored, some will take 48 hours.”

Due to the weather, flights were suspended at Houston’s two major airports. Sustained wind speeds of over 60 miles per hour were recorded at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The Houston Independent School District announced All schools would be closed on Friday.

“Please avoid the roads if possible, but if you are out and about, please use caution and be on the lookout for debris,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said wrote on social media. Gonzalez shared an image of vehicles trying to avoid a huge tree that had crashed into an intersection.

In the first week of May, the region was hit by severe storms, resulting in numerous flood rescues, including some from the roofs of flooded homes.