The storms in Houston caused heavy rain, flooding, and damage to downtown buildings, including busted windows. Houston Mayor John Whitmire described the city experiencing “80, 90, 100 mile per hour storms” with some tornadoes mixed in.
Four people have died, and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without power in Texas following severe storms that struck the Houston area on Thursday night.
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña reported that two people were killed by fallen trees and one in a crane accident, though these causes are preliminary and not officially confirmed. No details were provided about the fourth death.
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The storms caused heavy rain, flooding, and damage to downtown buildings, including busted windows. In Harris County, which encompasses Houston, about 782,000 homes and businesses were without power around 1 a.m. CT, down from 880,000 earlier in the night. Statewide, power outages affected approximately 904,000 customers early Friday, down from over 1 million Thursday evening.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire described the city experiencing “80, 90, 100 mile per hour storms” with some tornadoes mixed in. He urged residents to stay home and avoid the roads due to fallen trees and other hazards.
“Stay at home. Do not travel on the roads. It’s dark; there’s trees across roadways. … So be very patient, cautious, look out for one another, stay at home tonight, don’t go to work tomorrow unless you’re an essential worker,” Whitmire advised.
As a result, Houston Independent School District schools will be closed Friday. Whitmire noted that downtown Houston was heavily impacted, with firefighters dealing with live wires on Route 290 and most traffic lights out. City agencies will work through the night to clear debris and ensure safety.
Whitmire had earlier mentioned “many roads are impassable due to downed power lines, debris, and fallen trees” and highlighted the extensive power outages and damage reports.
The National Weather Service predicted 3 to 6 inches of rain, with higher amounts in some areas, and issued a flood watch through Friday morning. Tornadoes remained a possibility as the storms continued over coastal counties.
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Flood warnings were in place for parts of southern Texas until Friday morning, affecting Harris County and cities such as Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Houston, Madison, Montgomery, northern Liberty, Polk, San Jacinto, southern Liberty, Trinity, Walker, Waller, and Washington.
Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia urged his crews via social media to stay put as downed limbs made roads dangerous. His teams were ready to start debris removal once winds calmed.
Photos and videos on social media depicted severe flooding, downed trees, toppled electrical towers, and power lines across Houston. One video showed rain leaking into Minute Maid Park, where the Houston Astros play, and another showed baseball fans evacuating the stadium amid the storm.
Here take a look at some other videos:
Winds were strong enough to blow off roof panels at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and blow out windows at the Wells Fargo Plaza in Houston.