Four people die in storms in Houston and the power goes out

Severe thunderstorms that struck Texas overnight claimed four lives and caused a power outage in the Houston area.

Trees and power lines littered the streets, along with glass from hundreds of windows shattered in downtown buildings.

Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP

In a news conference late Thursday, Houston Mayor John Whitmire urged residents not to venture out.

“Stay home tonight. Don’t go to work tomorrow unless you are an essential worker,” Whitmire said. “Stay home, take care of your children.”

Schools in the Houston Independent School District will be closed Friday.

Wind gusts rose to 100 miles per hour, the same strength as Hurricane Ike when it hit Houston in 2008.

Transformers exploded throughout the city during the storm, and the wind caused several large power poles to collapse.

As of 7 a.m. Friday, more than 800,000 people in Texas were without power, according to PowerOutage.us. In neighboring Louisiana, nearly 160,000 residents were without power.

CenterPoint Energy, which serves the area, said it was working on the outages.

“We are responding to a large number of power outages caused by severe weather across portions of our service area. Please be prepared for extended weather-related power outages and possible delays in some outage notifications. “Crews are assessing the damage and are currently making repairs.” It is safe to do so,” CenterPoint Energy said on X.

First responders worked around the clock to secure the city. Some firefighters cleared live lines from Route 290 in Houston.

The traffic lights are also a big issue, the mayor said in his briefing.

“The real problem we have right now is traffic control. “Most traffic lights across the city are down and that will last for several more hours,” Whitmire said.

The city is working to open service centers for people who need shelter, don’t have electricity or need medical attention.

Anyone in urgent need of assistance is asked to call 911.

To report fallen trees and road blockages, residents can call 311.

Storms will move into Mississippi and Alabama by Saturday morning.