Severe storms kill at least 4 people in Houston, cause widespread power outages

Severe thunderstorms hit Southeast Texas on Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows of high-rise buildings, felling trees and knocking out power to nearly 900 000 homes and businesses in the Houston area.

Mary Benton, communications chief and senior adviser to the mayor, confirmed the four deaths to The Associated Press in the evening.

Flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in several counties, with damaging winds and even tornadoes possible in the evening, the National Weather Service office in Houston said.

“Take shelter now if you are in the path of this storm. Head to the lowest floor! warned the NWS office on the social platform X.

Streets were flooded and trees and power lines fell throughout the area. KHOU-TV showed footage of broken windows at a downtown Houston office building, with glass littering the street below.

City officials urged residents to stay off the roads as many of them were impassable and traffic lights were out.

Flights were grounded at Houston’s two main airports due to weather conditions. Sustained winds exceeding 96 km/h were recorded at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

More than 870,000 customers were without power in and around Harris County, which includes Houston, according to poweroutage.us. The county is home to more than 4.7 million residents.

The Houston Independent School District canceled classes Friday for all of its 274 campuses.

Severe storms hit the region during the first week of May, leading to many rescues in the flood, some from the roofs of flooded homes.