Beryl brings power outages, damage across Bay Area From the cover
The impact
The overview
Many residents throughout the Bay Area struggled with structural damage, power loss and flooding. Ralph Blanco, League City’s chief building official, said his team had seen numerous homes with damaged fences, roofs and windows. League City resident Megan Saxton said she could feel her house vibrating the morning of July 8 and found her fence was also down later that day. Businesses also lost out from the storm. In addition to several going without power for days, Barge 295, a two-story restaurant and bar that floats on a barge over Clear Lake, sank into the water, which led to the business shutting down. Community members rallied around the busi- ness, addressing Seabrook City Council at a July 16 meeting to ask that the business be allowed to reopen the portion still located on land. “[The support] is so heartwarming,” Barge 295 co-owner Patrick Robinson said July 18.
Much of the Greater Houston area, including the Bay Area, is still in recovery following Hurricane Beryl. The Category 1 hurricane knocked out power for more than 2 million CenterPoint customers across Houston, as well as about 116,000 Texas-New Mexico Power customers around the Bay Area. The storm brought several inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Winds knocked over trees, which in turn tore down fences and homes. As of press time, Harris County officials reported more than a dozen people in Houston have died from of the storm. While power is back for those affected, some residents are still dealing with the damage from the storm. And the prolonged outage has prompted many questions and concerns about what will be done regarding Houston’s power grid—particularly with hurricane season still in its early stages.
The Barge 295 partially sunk as a result of Hurricane Beryl on July 8.
COURTESY BARGE 295
Knocked down fences and trees were some examples of the damage Hurricane Beryl caused.
RACHEL LELAND/COMMUNITY IMPACT
15 people in Texas have died as of July 22 10 power transmission lines were downed
What they said
“When we build distribution circuits, there are standards. One of the standards is the distribution line should withstand 110 mph wind when I don’t think Beryl had wind at that speed.” TOM OVERBYE, DIRECTOR OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY’S SMART GRID CENTER
“This has really brought a lot of people together, and I hate to say it, but that’s when a community gets close—when a disaster happens.” MEGAN SAXTON, LEAGUE CITY RESIDENT
2.2M CenterPoint Energy customers lost power
$28B-$32B early estimate of damage and loss across U.S.
SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, CENTERPOINT ENERGY, ACCUWEATHER/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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