- Southeastern Texas continues to be buffeted by severe storms, with risk to life
Shocking videos coming out of Houston show the devastation brought by swirling 100mph winds, blasting out high-rise windows and delivering untold damage to inner city infrastructure, with power offline for some nine hundred thousand people.
Footage circulating online shows a sheets of water flailing in the wind as trees are battered by the gale and pedestrians in the city rendered unable to shield themselves from the deluge.
Buildings are seen to have had entire walls stripped in the storms, with one car pictured crushed under the weight of bricks from a falling wall in the city yesterday.
Elsewhere, footage shot from an indoor refuge showed dozens of miscellaneous items hurtling down from above as lights flicker, causing possible risk to life for those outside and prompting spectators to say downtown now ‘looks like the apocalypse’.
Tragically, at least four people have already been killed in the storms, and authorities have urged residents in southeastern Texas to avoid leaving their homes when possible, with trees at risk of falling and many traffic lights rendered inert.
‘Stay at home tonight. Do not go to work tomorrow, unless you’re an essential worker. Stay home, take care of your children,’ Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in an evening briefing. ‘Our first responders will be working around the clock.’
A large tree has fallen onto a car and part of a home after heavy winds and rains ripped through the region Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston
A car crushed by falling bricks from a fallen building wall sits in a downtown parking lot after a severe thunderstorm passed through, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston
Transmission power lines are down near the Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Cypress, Texas
A video photojournalist shoots footage of damage at a tire shop at the intersection of Sowden and Bingle in Houston
The wall of a tire shop after being completely blown out from the storm
The mayor said four people died during the severe weather. At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees, and another happened when a crane blew over in strong winds, officials said.
Streets were flooded, and trees and power lines were down across the region. Whitmire said wind speeds reached 100 mph, ‘with some twisters.’
He said the powerful gusts were reminiscent of 2008’s Hurricane Ike, which pounded the city.
Hundreds of windows were shattered at downtown hotels and office buildings, with glass littering the streets below, and the state was sending Department of Public Safety officers to secure the area.
‘Downtown is a mess,’ Whitmire said.
There was a backlog of 911 calls that first responders were working through, he added.
Even further out, residents are still reeling from the devastation brought by the storm.
Brett Chynoweth, from Eastwood, said a 75-year-old tree in his garden suddenly came crashing down between his house and his neighbor’s.
‘I don’t know,’ he said when asked what he intended to do. ‘I’ve never experienced anything like this before.’
At Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, the retractable roof was closed due to the storm – but the wind was so powerful it still blew rain into the stadium
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said four, and possibly five, people were killed after storms Thursday swept through Harris County, which includes Houston
Widows in a high-rise are broken after strong winds rocked Houston, on May 16
A boy walks past a large tree that fell on a home after heavy wind and rain ripped through the region Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston
Neighbors survey damage around their homes near Bingle Roa
Power lines are brought down in Houston amid intense storms
More widespread damage in Houston amid the latest wave of storm weather
Workers clean up damage inside a downtown restaurant after a severe thunderstorm passed through downtown Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Shattered glass covers the street outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown, May 16
The widespread destruction brought much of Houston to a standstill as crews raced to restore power and remove uprooted trees and debris
At Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, the retractable roof was closed due to the storm – but the wind was so powerful it still blew rain into the stadium.
Puddles formed on the outfield warning track, but the game against the Oakland Athletics still was played.
The Houston Independent School District canceled classes Friday for some 400,000 students at all its 274 campuses.
The storm system moved through swiftly, but flood watches and warnings remained for Houston and areas to the east.
The ferocious storms moved into neighboring Louisiana and left more than 215,000 customers without power.
About 900,000 customers were without electricity in and around Harris County, which contains Houston, according to poweroutage.us. The county is home to more than 4.7 million people.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the county’s precincts and engineers would work overnight to clear debris and try to restore power, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
She warned that residents in Cypress would have to wait longer for power to be restored due to downed transmission towers.
The problems extended to the city’s suburbs, with emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County describing the damage to transmission lines as ‘catastrophic’ and warning that power could be impacted for several days.
Flights were briefly grounded at Houston’s two major airports. Sustained winds topping 60 mph (96 kph) were recorded at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Heavy storms slammed the region during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.