As another severe thunderstorm hits Houston, hundreds of thousands of Centerpoint customers lost power, including more than a dozen vote centers. Follow along for live updates of the storm.
Houston Fire Department Senior Captain Chris Delbello surveys a damaged home after a fire Tuesday, May 28, 2024, in the Third Ward neighborhood in Houston. Neighbors said the house caught fire as a storm moved through the area.
Jon Shapley/Staff photographer- To support our journalism, please consider subscribing to the Chronicle.
- Check out our interactive flood map for current flood hazards
- Keep track of flooding across Houston with our real-time tracker
More than 105,000 CenterPoint Energy customers in the Houston area are without power as of Tuesday evening after an influx of severe weather, according to a news release from CenterPoint.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Around 325,000 customers in the region lost power after the storm started, though by 8 p.m., more than two-thirds had power restored, the statement read. The company is assessing damage to its infrastructure, a process expected to take until Wednesday morning, CenterPoint spokesperson Paul Lock said at a news conference Tuesday.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
CenterPoint said in the statement that it "cannot ensure an uninterrupted power supply," telling customers who depend on electricity for health reasons to create an emergency plan. The release did not state when the company expects to restore power to the 105,000 customers without power, though CenterPoint will continue to provide updates.
The company also advised checking over customer-owned equipment, which could have been damaged in the storm and will need repair before CenterPoint can restore service.
CenterPoint stated its outage tracker online map experienced "technical difficulties" following the storm weeks ago. After the storm, the company directed customers toward its X account, formerly known as Twitter and its text and phone service. The CenterPoint website continues to update figures on outages every 15 minutes.
Montgomery County officials confirmed the construction worker who was killed Tuesday was a 16-year-old boy.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The teen was an employee of the construction company. He has been identified and family has been notified of his death, but his name will not be released, sheriff's officials said.
Tuesday's storms may be followed by further showers over the next few days, said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo at an afternoon news conference.
Hidalgo said it is unclear where further storms could develop over the region in the coming days and asked locals to stay weather aware. Storms are not expected to return overnight, she said.
No casualties from the storm had been reported as of 5 p.m. in Harris County, Hidalgo said, though a 16-year-old boy died in Montgomery County construction collapse.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The storms that hit the Houston area left 220,000 CenterPoint customers out of power and 129,000 in Harris County, said Paul Lock, manager of local government relations at CenterPoint Energy.
Assessing local power outages scattered around Harris County will likely take until Wednesday morning, Lock said.
"We had literally just finished restoring power, and yet another storm has come through," he said. "We've got mutual assistance folks turning around and coming back. So, our folks are tired, they're exhausted, but they're committed to getting the power back on as quickly as possible."
Hidalgo said from Tuesday's storms that brought winds as fast as 75-mile-per-hour winds to Bush Airport and hail as large as golf balls were less severe than the derecho from weeks ago.
"We wouldn't say that today's storm is exactly normal, but it is something that happens this time of year," she said.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The most recent storms that swept through the area May 16 killed eight people and left areas of the city fighting to recover from flooded roads, fallen trees, damaged homes and left many without electricity.
Between 14 and 15 locations out of 300 polling stations lost power Tuesday because of the storms, she said. Polls for the runoff election closed at 7:00 p.m.
"We hope that this will not impact voters too much," Hidalgo said.
Damages from Tuesday's storm will be eligible for FEMA assistance. Those who have already applied for relief from earlier storms should avoid creating a new request. Instead, they should edit their initial submission, Hidalgo said.
"It is really a blessing that we've got that FEMA aid, and so I want to make sure that people take advantage of it," Hidalgo said.
A shelter is available at the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, which is not expected to lose power overnight.
In one section of Near Northside, Houston homeowners sat outside their houses as stormy skies cleared Tuesday evening, resigned to another day without electricity. They were among many residents across the city who had lost their power for the second time this month, after a derecho wind storm May 16 left some in darkness for over a week.
Tina Torres rested in front of her Averill Street home as her husband pulled out their generator, a recent investment. After winds swept the neighborhood May 16, they were in the dark for about 24 hours. Now, they are prepared for the worst.
“After the last storm, we went out the next morning and bought a generator to connect our fridge,” Torres said in Spanish – their biggest concern had been losing valuable food, especially a freezer full of meat. But the generator’s price tag was steep: about $800, she said.
“This was a big expense, an expense we had not anticipated,” Torres said. But after 20 years of watching Houston storms from their home, the couple expected they would need it again – just not so soon.
Tuesday’s rain dumped harder than usual in Torres’ neighborhood, sending surprised neighbors to a nearby gas station on Weiss and Irvington for supplies. Rock Lands sat inside the darkened, closed door to fend off customers.
“We closed as soon as the power went out, a couple of minutes after the rain started,” Lands said, adding the shop also had to close in the previous storm.
A steady stream of locals tried anyway, handling the darkened pumps or getting as far as the door with handfuls of cash before a repeated chorus: “No power? Damn.”
After severe storms swept through the Houston metro area on Tuesday, an eye-catching display of mammatus clouds — a rare and distinctive pouch-like cloud formation — filled the skies over Southeast Texas.
This cloud type is characterized by rounded protrusions, similar to the shape of a cow’s udder or a series of suspended bubbles. Mammatus clouds, which are associated with the thunderstorm anvil cloud, form when air, laden with either water droplets or ice crystals, descends into a drier and less dense environment.
Shown are mammatus clouds over the west side of Houston following Tuesday afternoon's storms. The unique, pouch-like protrusions form as moisture-rich air sinks into a drier and less dense air mass.
Justin BallardThough officials suspect that only one victim was trapped and killed during the collapse of an unfinished home in Magnolia, the Fire Department is using camera equipment to search through the rubble in case there is an additional victim.
Crews with four different local Fire Departments took around three hours to remove the body of a victim killed in the collapse on Willow Heights Lane due to strong storm winds that moved through Montgomery County in the afternoon. The victim was pronounced dead before 4:30 p.m, said Bryan Perry, captain of community risk reduction with the Magnolia Fire Department.
Construction workers at the site were likely unaware of the incoming winds when they began work Tuesday, and they later told officials that one person was missing after the collapse, Perry said.
Officials initially responded to the collapse of a single home under construction on the block. The second structure collapsed after authorities arrived. Later, officials helped structurally support a third building after they noticed it was leaning.
More than 60 firefighters with the Magnolia, Woodlands, Conroe and North Montgomery County fire departments arrived at the scene to respond to the collapse.
The Montgomery County Hospital District also responded.
Because of Tuesday’s thunderstorm, the city of Houston canceled more community meetings to discuss this year’s budget proposal.
Mayor John Whitmire recently announced a $6.7 billion budget proposal, which will impact a range of city services, from public safety to trash pickup.
Local activists have long advocated for improved accessibility and transparency in the budgeting process. To address this, city officials originally scheduled a series of in-person town hall meetings across neighborhoods to help residents understand the new mayor’s spending plan and provide another venue for them to voice their priorities.
Several community meetings, however, were canceled after the severe derecho event about two weeks ago. Due to ongoing recovery efforts, the city also postponed a full day of budget hearings last Monday, where council members were supposed to scrutinize several city departmental budgets.
Council Members Sallie Alcorn and Mario Castillo, chair and vice chair of the city’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee, had planned to hold a town hall meeting Tuesday evening but announced it had been canceled due to this afternoon’s storm and street flooding. Controller Chris Hollins’s office also had a separate budget town hall planned around the same time and postponed the event as well.
“I am VERY sorry for these cancellations & remain committed to robust public engagement in the budget process,” Alcorn said on X.
CenterPoint Energy is still assessing the level of damage on its system and doesn’t have information on when outages caused by Tuesday’s storm are expected to be restored, according to CenterPoint spokesperson Logan Anderson.
More than 236,000 customers were without power as of 4:50 p.m., down from 314,000 earlier in the afternoon, according to CenterPoint’s outage tracker. As for why the outage tracker has lost its interactive function, Anderson said CenterPoint will be able to share restoration information after assessing damages.
CenterPoint has previously sent back most out-of-town crews who came to Houston to help restore power knocked out by the derecho earlier this month, Anderson said. The company did retain some of those crews, who will continue to help with restoration following the latest storm, she said.
One person is believed to have died after two under-construction homes collapsed in Magnolia, officials said.
Magnolia Fire Department division chief Jason Herrman said emergency reporters were working to recover the body of a person who died in the collapse on Willow Heights Lane. Herman said he couldn’t immediately provide information on that person.
The frames of two single-family homes fell as a strong, fast-moving storm moved across Montgomery County around 12:30 p.m.
The Magnolia, Woodlands, Conroe and North Montgomery County fire departments and the Montgomery County Hospital District all responded to the collapse, officials said.
The Houston Chronicle wants to know where in the Houston area you lost power. Comment on the Houston Chronicle's social media post below.
A Houston ISD spokesperson said in an email statement that the district canceled its public meeting tonight on an upcoming multi-billion dollar bond at Forest Brook Middle School. All other announced bond meetings will take place as expected, the spokesperson wrote.
Multiple Montgomery County agencies were digging through the wreckage of two collapsed under-construction homes in Magnolia, after they were knocked down by Tuesday’s storm.
The frames of two homes on Willow Heights Lane collapsed, said Jason Herrman, a division chief with the Magnolia Fire Department. A third home was damaged by the falling structures, he said. As of 2:50 p.m., Herman said it was unclear if anyone was under the wreckage. Herman said officials feared some workers may have been in the structure when it fell down.
Rescuers from the Montgomery County Structural Collapse team, the Woodlands and Conroe, among others, joined the Magnolia Fire Department at the scene of the collapse.
Houston residents recorded several trees across the city experiencing flooding after Tuesday's storms.
More than 130 flights out of Houston area airports have been delayed and five canceled after severe thunderstorms rolled into the region, FlightAware data shows.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport had 106 flights delayed by an average of at least one hour and 31 minutes, according to the flight tracking site.
Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport is not spared either, with more than 30 flights delayed and an average delay time of over 30 minutes for both incoming and departing planes.
Spring Branch ISD lifted its shelter in place at 2:15 p.m., during which it held all buses and dismissals. All transportation and dismissals will proceed as scheduled, the district said in a 2:24 p.m. post on X.
The following high water locations on roadways were reported by Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office on Tuesday afternoon:
- FM 1960 and Champion Forest
- FM 1960 and Greenwood Forest
- Lyons Court and Louetta Road
- Bammel N Houston and Champions Forest
- Clear Valley and Champions Forest
- Pebble Springs Drive and Champions Forest
- 5800 Theall Road/ Paradise Valley Drive
The Thomas A. Glazier Senior Education Center in Houston has been closed due to the thunderstorms Tuesday, according to the Office of Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones.
Briones office posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to close the center to "ensure everyone's safety," which was initially opened by FEMA to help residents affected by the storms since April.
"Please stay safe and take necessary precautions," officials wrote.
CenterPoint’s outage tracker reported 313,943 customers without power as of 2:25 p.m. as the severe thunderstorm began to die down in the Houston area. There were 3,165 active outages, according to the tracker.
The company’s outage tracker no longer features an interactive search function. PowerOutage.us, a site that aggregates power outage data, said CenterPoint’s primary outage management system is currently offline.
CenterPoint customers without power can sign up for its Power Alert Service to receive updates on estimated restoration times for their home or business at CenterPointEnergy.com/PowerAlertService.
Hail damage was expected across Southeast Texas, including Galveston County, parts of Fort Bend, Brazoria and Chambers counties, as well as southern Liberty and Harris counties.
The National Weather Service said at 1:55 p.m., severe thunderstorms in a line from Beach City to near Shoreacres to Pearland were moving southeast at 35 mph.
Doppler weather radar indicated the storms were producing 70 mph wind gusts and quarter-size hail.
Hail damage to vehicles was expected, as well as considerable wind damage to trees, mobile homes and roofs.
Areas that could see damage include Pasadena, Pearland, League City, northeastern Sugar Land, Baytown, Missouri City, Galveston Causeway, Galveston Island West End, Texas City, Friendswood, La Porte, Deer Park, Alvin, Dickinson, Stafford, South Houston, Bellaire, West University Place, La Marque and Santa Fe.
Many Houston residents reported seeing hail. Bill Bishop posted on X that he is seeing hail east of downtown Houston.
Spring Branch ISD issued a shelter in place due to the weather, according to a post on X. The district will hold all buses and dismissal until an all- clear is given. Buses with students have pulled into the closest district facility, according to the post.
Spring ISD said multiple campuses are without power and that all students and staff are safe, according to a post on X shortly before 2 p.m. Buses are expected to be delayed.
Houston ISD will dismiss as scheduled, but after school activities are canceled.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority suspended rail service north of Burnett along the Red Line light rail and west of Chartres along the Green and Purple lines as 50 mph winds and downpours drench the tracks.
Some bus routes are also impacted as storms roll across Houston.
“In those areas we are asking them to get to a place that’s not flooded where it safe,” Metro spokeswoman Tracy Jackson said.
Update: All light rail services are suspended temporarily and HOV lanes are closed as the storm passes through, Metropolitan Transit Authority officials said.
A portion of Harris and Montgomery counties were under a flood advisory until 5 p.m. Tuesday after a band of strong thunderstorms rolled through the region, the National Weather Service said.
Forecasters said at 1:49 p.m., Doppler weather radar and rain gauges indicated heavy rainfall from the thunderstorms, which was expected to cause urban and small stream flooding.
Between two and three inches of rain had fallen and up to two inches more are expected in the area that would cause minor flooding.
Communities that could experience flooding include Pasadena, northwestern Baytown, Deer Park, South Houston, Bellaire, Humble, West University Place, Galena Park, Jacinto City, Jersey Village, Hunters Creek Village, Piney Point Village, Aldine, Northside/Northline, near Northside Houston, Greater Greenspoint, Greater Fifth Ward, Greater Heights, Second Ward and downtown Houston.
The Harris County Clerk's Office announced at least a dozen voting centers have lost power as of 1 p.m. during Houston's thunderstorm.
About 250,687 Houston-area customers were without power as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to an outage tracker from CenterPoint Energy, the transmission and distribution utility for much of the region. There were 2,001 active outages, according to the tracker.
An active outage refers to each time electrical equipment is damaged and causing power losses. One active outage can affect many homes and businesses. Meanwhile, one customer — home or business — often includes numerous people.
The latest wave of outages come as CenterPoint crews are still finishing up restoration of power in the areas hit hardest by the severe derecho event almost two weeks ago. Nearly 922,000 customers lost power because of the derecho, according to the company.
Gusts as strong as 75 mph have been reported across the Houston metro area as a band of storms rolled through the region Tuesday.
Reports sent to the National Weather Service described pea-size hail north of downtown and 60 mph winds closer to the city center. At 1:22 p.m., Doppler weather radar indicated that severe thunderstorms had lined up from 7 miles north of Hardin to East Little York/Homestead to Westchase, moving southeast at 50 mph, the weather service said.
Storms were producing 70 mph wind gusts there and dropping quarter-size hail, and forecasters warned that vehicles could be damaged by hail, and winds could cause considerable damage to trees, mobile homes and roofs.
Weather service meteorologist Cameron Batiste also reported 75 mph wind gusts at Bush Intercontinental Airport around 1:15 p.m.
The following counties in Texas are included in the severe thunderstorm watch until Tuesday at 6 p.m.: Austin, Bastrop, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Chambers, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Lee, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Montgomery, Newton, Orange, Polk, San Jacinto, Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller, Washington, Wharton and Williamson.
Severe storms through Tuesday afternoon will be capable of producing wind gusts of 70 to 80 mph and tennis ball-size hail. While these threats sound eerily similar to the May 16 derecho that blasted through Southeast Texas, it’s important to note that Tuesday’s severe weather likely will not be a wholesale repeat of what many are still recovering from.
Shown is the severe thunderstorm watch that covers the Houston area through Tuesday afternoon. Storms will be capable of producing 75 mph wind gusts and tennis ball-sized hail.
National Weather ServiceA severe thunderstorm watch means that conditions are favorable for the development of strong storms capable of severe weather, such as large hail and damaging winds.
Those under the severe thunderstorm watch need to be prepared to seek shelter inside and away from all windows immediately if a severe thunderstorm warning is issued for their location. Try to place as many walls between yourself and the outside as possible just in case strong winds lead to damage to windows.
Finally, have a reliable way to get severe weather alerts.
High-resolution weather models depict future storm development in the Houston area by early Tuesday afternoon. The first round of strong storms pushes through Southeast Texas by mid-afternoon Tuesday.
A second round of strong storms are possible overnight as storms move out of the Hill Country. This second round is uncertain and depends a lot on the evolution of the first round of storms. If early afternoon storms are more widespread, the risk of severe weather late Tuesday night will generally decrease.
