Severe storms kill at least four people in Houston and cut power to 850,000 homes and businesses.

HOUSTON (AP) — Fast-moving thunderstorms slammed 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. electricity to more than 850,000 homes and businesses. the Houston area.

Authorities urged residents to stay off the roads as many were impassable and traffic lights were expected to be out for much of the night.

“Stay home tonight, don’t go to work tomorrow unless you are an essential worker. Stay home, take care of your children,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said during an evening press briefing. “Our first responders will be working 24 hours a day.”

The mayor said four people died. At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees, and another occurred when a crane toppled over in high winds, authorities said.

Streets were flooded and trees and power lines fell throughout the area. Whitmire said wind speeds reached 100 mph (160 km/h), “with a few tornadoes.”

Transmission power lines are down near Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024 in Cypress, Texas. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Melissa Phillip

Hundreds of windows were smashed in downtown hotels and office buildings, with glass littering the streets below, and the state sent Department of Public Safety agents to secure the area.

“Downtown is a mess,” Whitmire said.

There was a backlog of 911 calls that first responders were working through, he added.

The storm system moved in quickly, but flood watches and warnings remained for Houston and areas to the east.

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

According to poweroutage.us, about 855,000 customers were without power in and around Harris County, which includes Houston. The county is home to more than 4.7 million residents.

The problems spread to the city’s suburbs, with emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County calling damage to transmission lines “catastrophic” and warning that power could be affected for several days.

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.

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