Seven dead after powerful storms slam Houston, Texas
Seven individuals have lost their lives due to thunderstorms in southeastern Texas, with over half a million residences and businesses left without power.
Officials warn that some residents could face weeks without electricity following Thursday’s storm, which carried winds reaching 110mph (177km/h). The fatalities primarily resulted from falling trees, power lines, and lightning strikes.
The storm has now shifted to neighboring Louisiana, prompting flood warnings along the Gulf Coast. Additional casualties were reported on Friday evening, bringing the total to seven.
Among the victims, an 85-year-old woman perished in a fire ignited by lightning, a 57-year-old man succumbed while attempting to relocate a damaged electrical pole, and another individual relying on oxygen was found unresponsive following a power outage.
Earlier reports indicated two fatalities from falling trees and one from a collapsed crane. Tragically, Christin Martinez, a mother of four, lost her life when a tree crushed her car. She had expressed concern to her husband about the nearby large tree before the incident occurred.
Mrs. Martinez, survived by her three sons aged 8, 10, and 12, as well as an infant she was still nursing, leaves behind a grieving family. During Friday’s press briefing, Texas Judge Lina Hidalgo disclosed that at least two tornadoes had struck the region on Thursday night.
In Houston, traffic lights were out on Friday, office windows were blown through and glass was strewn across the city’s streets.
The Houston Independent School District district canceled school on Friday.
Flash floods and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for multiple counties, according to Houston’s National Weather Service office.
On Friday evening, about 600,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, down from nearly one million customers one day earlier.
The vast majority of outages were in Harris County, which contains Houston and is home to more than 4.7 million people.
Judge Hidalgo said the winds reached speeds the area had not experienced since Hurricane Alicia in 1983.
The high winds from the storm that came through Texas blew out the windows of this Houston building.
Harris County libraries will remain open over the weekend to serve as cooling centres and provide electricity for residents, officials said.
Temperatures in Houston were mild on Friday, but were expected to climb over the weekend along with increased humidity.
The storm left 29,000 households without power in neighbouring Louisiana as of Friday evening.
Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Gulfport were at the highest risk for flash flooding, according to the National Weather Service.
This is the second time in six weeks that a deadly storm has swept through the Houston area. Last month a tornado hit the suburb of Katy, killing one person and injuring 10.
