More than 1.3 million homes and businesses in Texas remained without power on Thursday (11), four days after Hurricane Beryl hit. The state was hit by high winds and flooding amid extreme heat.
About 1.1 million who are without power are customers of Centerpoint Energy CNP.N, the state’s largest provider, data from PowerOutage.us showed.
While the utility has restored power to 1.16 million customers since the storm, the company has faced criticism over its preparations ahead of Beryl. In a letter to Centrepoint, U.S. Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia called the slow power restoration a public health crisis.
Centerpoint said it expects to restore power to 400,000 customers by Friday (12) and 350,000 customers by Sunday (14). In total, 2.26 million people were without power during the storm.
“Crews identified extensive damage throughout the company’s system. Trees throughout the Greater Houston area were particularly vulnerable due to three unusual years of extreme weather, including significant freezes, drought and heavy rains last spring,” Centerpoint said in a statement.
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures of 32 °C are expected in southeast Texas this Thursday (11).
Damage from Beryl could cost U.S. insurers about $2.7 million, catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. said.
Beryl, which made landfall as a Category 1 storm early Monday, closed major ports along the Gulf Coast.
The Texas Gulf Coast is home to massive oil and gas facilities, as well as export plants and chemical manufacturers. Texas accounts for 40 percent of U.S. oil production and 20 percent of the country’s natural gas production.
Freeport LNG, one of the country’s largest liquefied natural gas facilities, is expected to restart operations on Thursday (11), sources told Reuters earlier this week.
Source: CNN Brasil
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