HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – We may never know the true number of customers who lost power during Thursday night’s deadly storms because CenterPoint’s system got overwhelmed as we reached the height of the threat, but according to Mayor John Whitmire, it was more than 900,000.
Ten transmission towers were damaged, 7 in Harris County. Those take longer to repair. Customers connected to the transmission towers will have to wait longer for their service to be restored.
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Harris County Judge Linda Hidalgo said those customers could be without power for two weeks.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN TRACK POWER OUTAGES
CenterPoint’s Outage Tracker had been intermittent for real-time data. Over the weekend the utility moved away from the tracker altogether and set up a website page that tells how many customers are still without power and mapped out estimated times for power to be restored.
UPDATE: On Friday night, a source at CenterPoint Energy confirmed that the systems are still be delayed due to the high volume of cases reported.
“We are experiencing processing delays and slower than normal system performance due to the number of outage cases being reported because of the extensive damage throughout the region. We will continue to share information on our Power Alert System, Outage Tracker and on X at @CenterPoint as the information becomes available,” a representative at CenterPoint told KPRC 2 in an email.
You can also report outages on the same page and sign up to get alerts on the progress. Also, you can put in your address in to check the status of real-time outages in your neighborhood.
Sign up for alerts and you should get status reports on repairs.
LATEST UPDATE ON OUTAGES
Following severe storms in the Houston area Thursday night, hundreds of thousands of people are still out of power.
According to the CenterPoint outage map - 545,784 people were without power as of 8:50 p.m.
CenterPoint Energy also reported on X (Formerly Twitter) that their updates may be delayed or unavailable due to the widespread loss of power.
#HOU A fast moving but severe weather system has caused widespread power outages across the service area. As a result, outage updates via Outage Tracker and Power Alert Service® as well as our ability to provide estimated restoration times may be delayed or unavailable. They are… pic.twitter.com/krgNrA0C5g
— CenterPoint Energy (@CenterPoint) May 17, 2024
“They are still the best way to receive the most up-to-date information as it becomes available and we appreciate your patience as we work to restore service,” a portion of the message from CenterPoint read.
This is what a transmission tower looks like. Again, 10 were damaged - 7 of those in Harris County.
pchoustontx
Power pole bent by wind 290 at w34th