Texas power outage map as Hurricane Beryl leaves 400K without power (2024)

FAQs

How many people are without power in Texas after Hurricane Beryl? ›

When Hurricane Beryl swept through southeast Texas on July 8, its damaging 80-mile-per-hour winds took down thousands of trees and knocked out much of the electricity system. More than 2.6 million Texas power customers went without electricity for days in the summer heat.

Nearly one million people still remain without electricity in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, which was a category one hurricane that made a direct hit on Houston and surrounding areas on July 8, leaving more than two million people without power.

Nearly 2.3 million CenterPoint customers were without power on July 8 after Hurricane Beryl swept across Greater Houston. In the days since, the utility has restored power to a majority of its customers, but the progress has been uneven across the region.

You can report a power outage or check the status of a previously reported power outage via our online reporting tool. You can also call us at 888.313. 4747. If you have signed up for My Oncor Alerts, text OUT to 66267 (ONCOR).

Blackburn, a veteran environmental lawyer, was surprised at the amount of damage done to Houston's power system by Beryl's 90 mile-per-hour winds, and by the length of the ongoing effort to restore electricity.

Hurricane Beryl death toll in Texas rises to 36, including more who lost power in extreme heat | PBS News.

HOUSTON - President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for the state of Texas in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl. This declaration will allow federal disaster assistance to support recovery efforts in the impacted areas.

Here's the short answer: In the last decade (roughly 2014-2024), Texas has been spared a direct hit from any major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher).

Paying for capacity means there is more of a cushion if there's a cold snap or heat wave. Hirs compared it to funding the fire department. Texas' deregulated energy market contributes to the state's volatile electricity prices, according to Ed Hirs, energy fellow at the University of Houston.

Where is the power grid in Texas? ›

The ERCOT grid covers 75% of the land area of Texas and serves 90% of the state's electricity needs, including all of Harris County. El Paso and far West Texas are in the Western Interconnection, and portions of East Texas and the Panhandle region are in the Eastern Interconnection.

Texas opted for its own power grid at the turn of the 20th century. Natural gas and wind generate most of Texas's electricity and its infrastructure isn't winterized against freezing temperatures, leading to the 2021 winter blackout.

As the USDA notes in Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency, your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage. Keep the door closed as much as possible. Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers after 4 hours without power.

Depending on the amount of water remaining in the pipes, you might be able to flush your toilet several times while the power is out. Eventually, however, your tank won't fill up anymore because the pumps are down. When this happens, you will need to flush your toilet manually by pouring in a bucket of water.

Texas had 210 weather-related power outages — more than any other state — from 2000 to 2023, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Climate Central that used power outage data from the U.S. Department of Energy.

And in Austin, more than 170,000 lost power after a damaging ice storm swept across Central Texas in 2023. These all came on the heels of a different, deadly grid problem. A winter storm in 2021 infamously plunged millions across the state into cold darkness because there wasn't enough power generation to meet demand.

But its impacts — damaged homes, days on end without power, flooded streets, exhausted residents, and at least eight people in the area lost their lives — have lasted over a week. Houston Landing's photojournalists, Antranik Tavitian and Marie D.

The Hurricane Beryl death toll has spiked to at least 36 people around Houston, including a 5-year-old who drowned in a hurricane-swollen bayou in Fort Bend County, officials said.

Twelve years ago this month, a massive blackout affected about 55 million people in the northeast United States and Ontario. Over 2.5 million people lost power ten years ago when Hurricane Katrina caused huge power outages in multiple states.