1M to get power by Wednesday as Texans urged to stay 'vigilant' post-Hurricane Beryl

WASHINGTON (TND) — Texans are being asked to remain "vigilant" as Hurricane Beryl leaves the state and power restoration efforts are underway.

"It is still a dangerous storm and is leaving dangerous consequences in its place," said Nim Kidd, chief of state emergency operations.

State officials are working on their "number one priority" - restoring power to 2.1 million utility customers. The number of customers without power decreased Tuesday afternoon from the peak of over 2.7 million reported on Monday, according to PowerOutage.us. Crews, mostly in Houston, Galveston and coastal counties like Matagorda, are dealing with downed trees and transmission lines that the storm took out when it made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane.

The national government approved a "major disaster declaration" for Texas on Tuesday. White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden spoke to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over the phone and told him that "Texans are getting the resources they need and deserve following this devastating storm."

The declaration gives the Lone Star state "resources and tools needed to respond to Beryl and keep Americans safe," said Jean-Pierre during a White House press briefing Tuesday.

FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard have already been offering help for preparedness and recovery efforts.

The White House echoed the same concern over the dangerous heat and power outages.

We want to encourage residents to remain vigilant as temperatures rise, especially older adults and those with underlying health conditions," said Jean-Pierre.

She told reporters that 800,000 customers had power restored overnight and expected 1 million more to have electricity on Tuesday, but the Texas Lieutenant Governor said during his Tuesday afternoon update that it will happen Wednesday.

CenterPoint Energy, the electric company that services impacted areas, has an additional 11,500 employees working to restore power, according to Texas officials.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting as governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is out of the country for an economic trip, said power restoration will include nursing homes and assisted living centers. Sixteen hospitals were running on generator power Tuesday morning, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Republican Lieutenant Governor clarified that Biden asked him if he wanted the emergency disaster declaration.

It will cover most of the upcoming expenses related to Beryl, according to Patrick.

"We are appreciative that the federal government has stepped in and they will pick up most the cost as we go through recovery of the storm," explained Patrick.