Bay Area Edition | July 2024

BY RACHEL LELAND, JAMES T. NORMAN & HALEY VELASCO CONTRIBUTIONS BY JOVANNA AGUILAR, SHAWN ARRAJJ, ANGELA BONILLA, HANNAH BROL, MELISSA ENAJE, WESLEY GARDNER, VANESSA HOLT, ATIRIKTA KUMAR, EMILY LINCKE, DANICA LLOYD, JESSICA SHORTEN, LIZZY SPANGLER & AUBREY VOGEL

Current situation

What’s next?

Historical peak power outages in the Greater Houston area Hurricane Beryl (July 8)

Nearly 25,000 League City residents lost power at the storm’s peak, said Sarah Osborne, commu- nications and community engagement director for the city. The power outages led many to use generators, which in turn led the League City Fire Department to receive “several” calls about carbon monoxide poisoning. Tom Overbye, director of Texas A&M University’s Smart Grid Center, said he was surprised so many people lost electricity from the Category 1 hurricane. “What I suspect happened is you have trees falling on distribution lines and you also have higher wind knocking over some transmission towers and distribution towers as well,” Overbye said. Lynnae Wilson, senior vice president for Cen- terPoint Energy, said in a July 11 news release she believes the storm grew unpredictable despite preparation. “While we tracked the projected path, intensity and timing for Hurricane Beryl closely for many days, this storm proved the unpredictability of hurricanes as it delivered a powerful blow across our service territory and impacted a lot of lives,” Wilson said. Thomas Gleeson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, or PUC, said July 15 the state is launching a formal investigation into CenterPoint Energy’s preparation ahead of Beryl. Gov. Greg Abbott also expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s overall response and com- munication, and directed CenterPoint to provide detailed plans for future weather events by July 31, including removal of vegetation, preparation prior

Officials said they expect residents to be seeking help with recovery following the storm, with help available in the form of financial relief and debris pickup. Those looking for assistance have a few options. The Greater Houston Disaster Alliance announced July 15 it is launching a recovery fund, which, as of July 16 had raised $4 million in donations and commitments from various organizations and businesses. Federal aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has been opened for 67 Texas counties, according to a news release from the agency. That money, through an application process, can be used for damage related to homes and personal property from the storm. Storm debris removal is underway in the Bay Area, and cities have posted debris removal guidelines for residents. As part of that, League City has issued guidance on how and where to bag debris. Pickups started July 21 and will happen the following two Sundays as well. Residents who don’t want to wait for bagged green waste pickup can drop off their bagged green waste at Hometown Heroes Park, 1001 E. League City Parkway, League City. League City will also waive permitting fees for homeowners making repairs due to damage caused by Hurricane Beryl through Aug. 31, according to a July 10 city news release. Depending on the repairs, permitting fees in League City can typically cost up to $300. Following major storms, contractors often approach homeowners offering to do repairs, and the work is not permitted. By waiving the permitting fee, city officials hope to ensure all work is permitted, according to the news release.

2.2M

Derecho (May 16-17, 2024) Hurricane Harvey (August 2017) Hurricane Ike (September 2008)

930,000

Outages during Harvey totaled 1M

270,000

2.2M

SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY, CITY OF HOUSTON, CENTERPOINT ENERGY, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT/COMMUNITY IMPACT

CenterPoint outages after Hurricane Beryl

Customer outages

2.27M

CenterPoint Energy restored power to 2M customers over 10 days.

21K

July 8-18, 2024

SOURCE: CENTERPOINT ENERGY/COMMUNITY IMPACT

to tropical storms and prestaging linemen. “[CenterPoint] seems to be just incapable of doing their job,” Abbott said during the July 15 press conference with the PUC. “The state will have to consider whether or not we should be reducing the size of the territorial region to make it smaller so maybe they can do a better job of managing it.”

The context

Historical two-day rainfall averages Rainfall from Beryl in the Bay Area was comparable to Hurricane Ike but nowhere near Hurricane Harvey.

Historical peak wind gusts

While not as devastating in League City, Beryl’s peak winds at Hobby Airport rivaled Hurricane Ike.

League City

Pearland

Hobby Airport

League City

Hobby Airport

6.05 in. 7.26 in.

52 mph

Hurricane Beryl (July 8)

84 mph

53.87 in.

51 mph*

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Hurricane Harvey (August 2017)

37.01 in.

48 mph

6.71 in

74 mph

Hurricane Ike (September 2008)

8.08 in.

92 mph

SOURCES: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT

*ONLY PEARLAND DATA WAS MADE AVAILABLE.

BAY AREA EDITION