Environment
BY CASSANDRA JENKINS CONTRIBUTIONS BY HANNAH NORTON
Rare wind storm brought severe damage to Houston region
The Greater Houston area is recovering from a storm that swept through the region May 16, causing widespread damage, days of power outages and the death of at least eight people. The National Weather Service classi ed the storm as a derecho, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration de nes as a widespread, long-lived wind storm that follows straight lines. The NWS recorded wind speeds of approximately 110 mph in some areas of Houston, including downtown, and a tornado touched down near Cypress. According to a preliminary report by AccuWeather, the storm is estimated to have caused $5 billion-$7 billion in total economic impact with many residents and business owners in Harris County experiencing property damage. CenterPoint Energy estimates that nearly 1 million residents also lost power during the storm. The utility company had to replace 2,000 electric poles, 700 transformers and 800 miles of electrical wires to restore energy—a process that took roughly 7-8 days. Although power was restored to 99% of Houstonians by May 23, another storm May 28 caused outages for more than 300,000 customers.
How rare is a derecho in Houston? According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a derecho hits the Southeast Texas region roughly once every four years. The last major derecho to hit Texas and cause a number of deaths was in 1986.
One every four years
One every two years
One every year
Four every three years
The impact
110 mph winds recorded
About 1 million residents lost power 800+ miles of electrical wires replaced $5B-$7B potential economic impact $1M+ given in federal funding aid
Harris County
SOURCES: ACCUWEATHER, CENTERPOINT ENERGY, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, SPACE CITY WEATHER COMMUNITY IMPACT
How it happened
Going forward
Jason Ryan, executive vice president for regu- latory services and government a airs for Center- Point Energy, said the wind played a large role in the damage on Houston’s energy infrastructure, including trees falling on power lines. Ryan said CenterPoint enlisted the help of 1,000 crew members to remove trees and debris, and 4,000 linemen to restore power lines. “With hurricanes, we usually have advanced notice and we will have these crews coming in this direction before the storm even hits,” he said. “Here, we only had 15 minutes of advance notice.” Ryan said critical facilities, such as 9-1-1 centers and hospitals, receive rst priority for restoring power. Neighborhoods located next to an electrical substation often see repairs next, he said. “We don’t discriminate,” Brad Tutunjian, vice president of regulatory policy at CenterPoint, said at a May 22 Houston City Council meeting. “When you have a very diverse spread-out system like we have … it’s like roads going o of the highways. You want to start at the beginning and work your way down.”
Pablo Vegas, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, said the lesson that all energy leaders in Texas can take away from the storm is resiliency. ERCOT works to maintain electric system reliability in Texas, but it does not own any actual electrical infrastructure, he said. Prior to the storm, CenterPoint led a System Resiliency Plan on April 29 with the Public Utility Commission of Texas to start projects that will strengthen Houston’s electric grid. The $2.7 billion investment will assist with system hardening and modernization, ood mitigation, vegetation management, wild re mitigation, physical security and infrastructure technology. “This will create a more resilient system,” Ryan said. “It’s our intent to do signi cant work over the next number of years so that we can take a punch like this and get back up quicker.”
Resiliency Plan goals According to CenterPoint’s $2.7 billion Resiliency Plan, the agency will:
Replace wooden poles with composite poles on transformers, which are built to be more resilient to high winds
Replace old transmission lines
Convert wooden transmission towers to steel or concrete
Move power lines at freeway crossings underground
SOURCE: CENTERPOINT ENERGY COMMUNITY IMPACT
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