Texas without power service after Hurricane Beryl

Operators were working to restore service. Hundreds of people took shelter under air conditioning at a public facility set up as a “cooling center.” They had been without power for five days. Others lined up in their cars for ice, water and food.

Hurricane Beryl entered the United States on Monday, killing at least eight people. Seven were in Texas, where it entered via the coast. Its thriving oil industry was not affected. Communities and roads were flooded, trees were uprooted and utility poles and transmission lines were damaged.

Before the downgrade, Beryl left more than 2 million customers without power, and nearly half of them have yet to have service restored, according to outage site reports.

been: Why was Hurricane Beryl so unusual?

Josh Vance, 43, lives in Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, with his two children and his cat. During the day, he takes shelter in an air-conditioned community center. The heat outside feels about 40°C.

But at night he has to go back to his house, which is beaten down by the sun. “Dealing with the heat at home is terrible. We are miserable. I try to keep the kids’ spirits high, but I’m not going to lie. This heat is killing us. “It’s sucking the life and soul out of my body,” he explains.

He had opened all the windows but despite this he found his cat “almost dead” having spent the day there. “It’s one of the most traumatic things I’ve ever been through in my life. “I woke up this morning (Thursday) and my eye was almost swollen shut and red and I didn’t know why,” he said.

“We are so used to energy that without it, it’s like living in hell,” he explains.

Home rule in Texas

The United States has two large power grids: one for the east and one for the west. Each grid is connected to a different energy source. If there is a problem in one state, another state in the same grid provides support. But Texas is the only state with an autonomous grid.

In February 2021, abnormal frost caused the Texas power system to collapse due to high heating demand. Natural gas service was also affected. Dozens of people died from the cold.

In Houston, the transmission and distribution grid is managed by CenterPoint Corp. Officials and residents questioned why it took so long to restore service. The hurricane was a Category 1, the smallest of all storms.

“I feel like they underestimated the impact of the storm (…) They don’t seem to be prepared, they should be prepared, but they’re not,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who announced the investigation, said Thursday.

“I understand how frustrating it is to be without power, especially in this heat… but I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” Jason Wells, the company’s CEO, told the Houston Chronicle. He explained that they had restored service to half of those affected.

As the argument continued, food in Maria Dionisio’s refrigerator went bad. She took her children to a “cooling center” in south Houston to cool down and receive some ice and water.

“The power is out, it scares us, it’s complicated. Yes, because of my child, I’m very worried about him. The electricity has not come, it’s complicated (…) There is nothing to eat, everything in the refrigerator is destroyed,” said the Guatemalan, a native of a state where 40% of the population is Latino.

In the north of the city, queues stretched more than a kilometer to receive water and food. Brittany Nave, 40, and her three children were waiting to receive supplies.

He said they had a hard time sleeping comfortably. “It was very hot and we were looking for things to do. But we were grateful for the water and ice,” he said.

Not everyone is optimistic. “I pray to God there isn’t another (hurricane) behind this one, because if there is, we’re in trouble. We can’t even handle a Category 1… It’s crazy,” Josh said.