Death toll rises to 8 in severe storms in Houston area

An eighth person has died in the Houston area following severe weather that hit the city and surrounding Harris County with winds gusting to 100 mph, authorities said Monday, and more than 192,000 customers are remained without electricity.

The eighth person died in Houston from carbon monoxide poisoning, said Martee Black, a spokeswoman for the Houston Fire Department.

Fire Chief Samuel Peña on social media Monday called carbon monoxide the silent killer that follows storms, and he warned people to use generators safely.

Firefighters have responded to about 80 carbon monoxide-related incidents since Thursday’s storms, which downed trees and power lines and shattered windows in downtown Houston, Peña said, including a call during of which four children were hospitalized due to gas released by a generator.

Five people died in Houston and three in unincorporated Harris County, where Houston is located, officials said.

Harris County Precinct 4, in the west of the county, was one of the areas hardest hit by Thursday’s storm, Precinct Commissioner Lesley Briones said. Hundreds of workers have worked hard to clear roads of debris, but much remains to be done, she said.

“The truth is that it will take many more days,” she said Monday during a press conference on the occasion of the opening of a distribution center which, once power is restored, will serve also a cooling center.

It’s hot and humid in the Houston area, with temperatures near or above 90 degrees forecast for Tuesday, according to the national weather service.

CenterPoint Energy said Monday that more than 192,000 customers were still without power, although that was an improvement from the more than 922,000 customers who lost power at the peak of the outage.

The city of Houston has opened cooling centers and asked residents to call 311 if they need to go to these centers. Ice and water distribution centers were also set up after the storm and extended outages.

“Heat index values ​​will approach/exceed 100 degrees throughout the week, so be sure to take necessary precautions to stay safe,” the Houston Weather Service said. said Mr.onday ​​on.