From the cover
Recovering from Beryl
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ, WESLEY GARDNER & EMILY LINCKE
Beryl by the numbers
Local recovery City officials in Houston plan to collect debris from the May 16 derecho storm and Hurricane Beryl in a process that will run through September or October. The combined impact of the two disasters in Houston includes 4.5 million cubic yards of debris. Prior to Beryl, officials collected 1.7 million cubic yards left by the derecho. Houston residents can see the city’s progress on debris collection at: www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste /beryl_strm2024.html
Two-minute Impact
18 people in Harris County have died as a result of Hurricane Beryl. 10 power transmission lines were downed during the storm in the Greater Houston area. 47 water rescues were conducted by Harris County and city of Houston agencies. 2.2M CenterPoint customers in the Greater Houston area were without power on July 8. $28B-$32B is the preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Beryl in the U.S.
Hurricane Beryl initially formed as a tropical depression over the Atlantic Ocean on June 28 before strengthening into the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season the following day, according to the National Weather Service. At least 18 people have died in Harris County as a result of Beryl, as of July 24 data from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. Half of the cases were from heat-related issues. Many of Houston’s multiservice centers that were predesignated as cooling areas before the storm hit could not be used because they did not have power, said Tom Muñoz, who was Houston’s director of public safety and homeland security at the time. Randy Macchi, Houston Public Works chief operating officer, said 178 of the city’s 387 wastewater pumping stations lost power at the peak of the outages, though he said Houston’s drinking water remained safe. Moving forward, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said transparency from city department heads will be key in addressing shortcomings. “We can’t go around saying we have a $400 million surplus when we have critical needs,” he said at a July 10 Houston City Council meeting.
Historical peak wind gusts
Historical peak power outages in the Greater Houston area
Hobby Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Hurricane Beryl (July 8)
2.2M
84 mph 83 mph
Hurricane Beryl (July 8) Derecho (May 16-17, 2024) Isolated thunderstorm (June 2023) Hurricane Harvey (August 2017) Hurricane Ike (September 2008)
Derecho (May 16-17, 2024)
930,000
62 mph
Outages during Harvey totaled 1M
91 mph
Hurricane Harvey (August 2017)
270,000
41 mph
Hurricane Ike (September 2008)
2.2M
82 mph
SOURCES: CENTERPOINT ENERGY, CITY OF HOUSTON, HARRIS COUNTY INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Zooming in
What readers should know
What’s next?
Hurricane outlook On May 23, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released projections for the 2024 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season.
Thomas Gleeson, chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, said state agencies will work with local utility companies to strengthen infra- structure against future disasters. “I look at every one of these storms as a chance for us to review what we’ve done and try to get better at our preparation, our response,” he said. The PUC is investigating CenterPoint’s response to Beryl. The investigation kicked off July 25 with a hearing on CenterPoint’s resiliency efforts and what officials said the company will enact immediately to improve communication during emergencies. As of press time July 31, CenterPoint had been given an Aug. 1 deadline to launch a new cloud-based storm outage tracker; begin to use predictive modeling and AI technology to identify higher-risk vegetation that could interfere with utility lines; increase mobile generators from four to 13; and adopt a daily press briefing policy before and during named storms. Future requirements involve increasing call center capacity and hardening distribution lines to the latest extreme wind standards.
A number of resources are available in the city of Houston for residents who need food, shelter or who are looking for help with disaster repairs. Food, water, hygiene Houston Food Bank www.houstonfoodbank.org Texas Health and Human Services www.211texas.org Health Care for the Homeless www.homeless-healthcare.org/severe-weather-resources
Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30
17-25 named storms
8-13 hurricanes with 74 mph winds or higher
4-7 major hurricanes with 111 mph winds or higher
Beryl featured winds of 84 mph in Houston
Shelter City of Houston www.houstonoem.org/pages/response Red Cross www.redcross.org/local/texas/gulf-coast Disaster assistance Federal Emergency Management Agency www.fema.gov/disaster/4798
85% chance of an above average number of hurricanes over Atlantic Ocean
2024
10% chance of a normal season 5% chance of a below average
number of hurricanes over Atlantic Ocean
SOURCE: NOAA/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCES: VARIOUS AGENCIES/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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HEIGHTS - RIVER OAKS - MONTROSE EDITION
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