Millions of Texans without power after Hurricane Beryl makes landfall

Millions of Texans are without power following Hurricane Beryl's third and final landfall near Matagorda early Monday. The storm caused near-record flooding in the Houston area, with bayous like White Oak Bayou and Buffalo Bayou rising nearly 24 feet within nine hours. City officials reported dangerous driving conditions, road delays, closures, and numerous rescues.
A heat advisory has been issued for Tuesday across most of southeast Texas, with heat index values expected to reach around 106 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, brought heavy rainfall to several parts of the state. Acting Governor Dan Patrick declared a disaster for 121 counties, nearly half of Texas. The storm left approximately two million customers along the mid-to-upper coast and in East Texas without power.
CenterPoint Energy expects to restore power to nearly one million customers by Wednesday night. Entergy Texas is still assessing the damage and has not provided an exact date for full restoration, indicating it could take several days.
Restoring power to millions of Texans affected by the deadly and destructive storm could take days or even weeks, posing a dangerous scenario for residents without air conditioning as sweltering heat settles over the state. Beryl, which struck southern Texas as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday, knocked out power to more than 2.5 million homes and resulted in at least eight deaths in Texas and Louisiana.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 2.3 million people throughout Texas were still without power. The storm, now a tropical depression, unleashed flooding rains and winds that turned roads into rushing rivers, damaged power lines, and uprooted trees. As it moves toward the Midwest, it threatens to trigger more flooding and tornadoes.
Extreme heat will bear down on southeast Texas, including the Houston area, on Tuesday and Wednesday, creating hazardous conditions for those working outdoors or without adequate cooling. The National Weather Service in Houston warned that the combination of heat and outdoor cleanup efforts could produce dangerous conditions. Heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather in the U.S., killing more people annually than hurricanes and tornadoes combined.
Thomas Gleeson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, indicated that restoring power to hard-hit communities will be a multi-day effort. In Galveston, city officials estimate it could take up to two weeks to restore electricity.
CenterPoint Energy reported that nearly two million customers were without power Monday night. The utility company stated that the storm's impact was more severe than anticipated, resulting in outages for more than 2.26 million customers at its peak. The company aims to restore power to one million customers by Wednesday night.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, whose home also lost power, assured residents that efforts are underway to restore electricity as quickly as possible. "We’re going to take care of every community. No community is favored over another community. Every Houstonian is important to us," he said.