HOUSTON – A week after Houston dealt with major power outages, the city was forced to work around a worldwide computer outage for several hours Friday morning.
BACKGROUND: Major delays at Houston airports after worldwide computer outage disrupts businesses and organizations
The issue affected many Microsoft users, including banks, airlines, hospitals, and other organizations.
In Houston, Harris Health suspended hospital visitations, as well as patient information at Ben Taub and LBJ Hospitals, for several hours due to the outage.
Just before noon, Harris Health announced that it has resumed all appointments at its outpatient and clinic sites. However, some network systems within Harris health remain unavailable.
Health officials said elective hospital procedures remain cancelled for Friday.
“Patients affected by this inconvenience are being notified directly and are being helped in rescheduling. Harris Health appreciates the public’s patience and understanding through this disruption in services.”
All health centers are now open for clinic appointments. Some services may not be available due to the current CrowdStrike incident. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this disruption. pic.twitter.com/vhz6M8wE1j
— Harris Health System (@harrishealth) July 19, 2024
The Port of Houston also announced on Facebook that its gates have reopened.
Friday, July 19, 2024, 9:25 AM Port Houston Update: Port Houston's container terminals are now open.
Posted by Port Houston on Friday, July 19, 2024
What happened
The chaos was caused by a cybersecurity company’s problematic update late Thursday. That affected many operations and businesses that use Microsoft 365 apps and services. When people tried to log on to their company computers, they got the BSOD, the blue screen of death.
CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company, posted on X that they’d identified the issue, isolated it and a “fix has been deployed.”
RELATED: Texas DPS’ Driver License Offices closed due to worldwide computer outage
Here is a list of other organizations, entities in Houston that were impacted by the outages:
- Bush Intercontinental Airport
- Hobby Airport
KPRC 2 will continue to make updates to this story, adding more entities affected by the outage as more information becomes available.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.