HOUSTON — The return of scorching heat to Houston has added to the misery for people still without power. Hurricane Beryl crashed in Texas, sending residents scrambling for places to cool off and refuel as extended power outages strained one of the nation’s largest cities.
Frustration mounted as Houston appeared to be succumbing to a storm that was less powerful than the previous one, and the government questioned whether the energy company that serves much of the area had prepared adequately.
Nearly 36 hours after Beryl made landfall, Texas’ lieutenant governor said Tuesday that a sports and entertainment complex will temporarily house up to 250 hospital patients who are waiting to be discharged but cannot go to homes without power.
People tried to cope with it as best they could.
“We can handle it, but the kids can’t,” Walter Perez said as he arrived Tuesday at famed pastor Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch, which was serving as a cooling center and handing out 40 bottles of water.
Perez said his wife, 3-year-old son, 3-week-old daughter and father-in-law retreated from their apartment after a night he described as “bad, bad, bad, bad.”
Highs in the Houston area climbed back into the 90s (above 90 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, with humidity making it feel even hotter. Similar heat and humidity were expected on Wednesday. The National Weather Service described conditions as potentially dangerous given the lack of power and air conditioning.
Beryl, which made landfall Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, has been blamed for at least seven deaths in the U.S. — one in Louisiana and six in Texas — and at least 11 in the Caribbean.
More than 1.7 million homes and businesses in Houston were without electricity Tuesday night, down from a peak of more than 2.7 million on Monday. according to PowerOutage.usFor many it was a miserable repetition after storms in may Eight people died and nearly 1 million people were left without power as streets were flooded.
Customers lined up to eat at KFC, Jack in the Box and Denny’s on Tuesday. Dwight Yell took a disabled neighbor who had no power to Denny’s for some food.
He complained that city and state officials did not give residents enough warning of a storm that was initially expected to hit much further up the coast: “They didn’t give us enough warning so that we could maybe get gas or prepare to leave town if the lights went out.”
Robin Taylor, who got takeout from Denny’s, has been living in a hotel since her home was damaged by storms that hit the city in May. When Beryl hit, her hotel room was flooded.
“No wifi, no power, and it’s hot outside,” Taylor said. “People are going to die in this heat in their homes.”
Nim Kidd, head of the state’s emergency management division, stressed that restoring power was the top priority. Houston-based CenterPoint Energy said it aims to restore power to 1 million customers by the end of Wednesday.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is out of the country, said nursing homes and assisted living facilities were the top priority. Sixteen hospitals were running on generator power Tuesday morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.
An executive at CenterPoint Energy, which serves much of the Houston area, defended the energy company’s preparation and response.
“From my perspective, it’s pretty impressive to see a storm move through at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, have those crews come in late at night, and by 5 a.m. have everything ready to go out and get the job site started, because we’re talking thousands of crews,” Brad Tutunjian, vice president of regulatory policy at CenterPoint Energy, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Kyuta Allen took her family to a Houston community center to cool off and use the Internet.
“During the day you can leave the doors open, but at night you have to close and lock everything – shutting yourself in like you’re in a sauna,” she said.
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Associated Press reporters Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed reports.