Houston Area Power Outage Reaches Day 5 After Beryl

HOUSTON — CenterPoint said it will have power restored to 80% of its customers by Sunday night. As of Friday night, 814,081 customers were without power, meaning nearly 300,000 customers will remain in the dark.

“The remaining customers will be hit the hardest, those with downed trees, and this is not a quick fix. We just ask that they continue to be patient,” said Paul Lock of CenterPoint.

But patience is hard to come by in the Houston area. Citizens and politicians are demanding accountability.

The company is not shy about quoting numbers. It has restored power to 1.4 million people. More than 12,000 people are on the job. CenterPoint said it has never restored power to so many people in its history. For those still sweating, CenterPoint’s message is a slap in the face.

“In the first 48 hours, we restored nearly half of our customers,” CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells said in a message on the company’s YouTube channel. “We have been working tirelessly since the storm passed through our system, restoring customers.”

Tracy Vaughns said she has been living in her SUV with her dog and cat since Monday morning. She said she has been driving around her neighborhood looking for ice cream to salvage what little food she has left.

“It’s heartbreaking. I’m going to have to throw some things away,” Vaughns said. “I’m going to have to throw my food away … again.”

Vaughns said that during the May derecho, she lost power for seven days and her food perished. Now, she’s going through that again.

As of Friday night, CenterPoint’s outage tracking system did not provide an estimated restoration time for the Vaughns neighborhood. The company said it simply couldn’t provide one to everyone.

“What we’re seeing at this stage of restoration is more extensive damage and more extensive work,” Wells said.

RELATED: Some restoration date estimates shown on the new CenterPoint tracker

Vaughns wondered how many days it would take this time.

“He needs to be fired. Man, help the citizens of Houston,” Vaughns said. “There’s no reason for any of us to be like that.”

That’s worrisome for Vaughns and others who wonder whether CenterPoint is prepared for what might come next.

“You know it’s hurricane season. You know Houston is in hurricane season. Get ready,” she said.

Five days after Beryl, Vaughns was counting on his daughter’s kindness, which now had power.

“I had to change a few times because I don’t know how long I’ll be here,” she said.

KHOU 11 asked to speak to CenterPoint’s CEO on Friday. The company responded with the following statement.

“Due to our ongoing hurricane restoration efforts, we are unable to accommodate your request.”

Meanwhile, many people, including acting Texas Governor Dan Patrick, are calling for CenterPoint to be held accountable for its response.