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Most of Houston remained without power as Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast on Monday, and the blackout may be extended for days in the hardest-hit areas.
At least three people were killed in the Houston area from winds and flash flooding brought on by Beryl, a Category 1 hurricane that has since been downgraded to a tropical depression. The storm killed several people in the Caribbean last week.
CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP), Houston area's main electric utility, said close to 2.3M customers lost power during the storm. It restored power to nearly 285,000 customers by Monday night, and expects 1M customers' power to be restored by the end of Wednesday.
The utility mobilized nearly 12,000 field resources for restoration efforts. It also deployed mobile generation units, including to an emergency facility and an area hospital, and expects to deploy more in the coming days.
While the center of the storm has moved away from southeast Texas, the region is now facing high temperatures. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the region, with heat index values up to 105F.
"While this would normally be below criteria, the widespread loss of power and A/C will make for dangerous conditions," the agency warned.
Authorities moved to close or restrict vessel traffic at key ports in Texas on Sunday ahead of Beryl's landfall. Some companies conducted flaring of gases in their facilities in the area due to power disruptions, including Marathon Petroleum (MPC) and Freeport LNG, the Associated Press reported.