Anger continues to mount from residents of Texas as some are still without power amid an intense heat wave in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.
The hurricane had knocked out power to millions of homes and businesses as it damaged the energy infrastructure. Some Texans are furious with the utility company and the government’s response to the hurricane.
Hurricane Beryl
On July 8, Hurricane Beryl slammed into the southeast coast of Texas. Experts classified it as a category one storm and reports suggest it has been responsible for intense damage to the city of Houston in particular.
Despite being a more mild hurricane on the rating scale, it was able to inflict unexpected damage and cripple the livelihoods of so many Texas residents.
Not Ready
This hurricane was the first to directly hit the city in decades, and some felt that it exposed how unprepared Texas is to deal with intense storms.
“It’s really uncomfortable to think about,” said meteorologist Matt Lanza of Space City Weather on speculation if the hurricane hadn’t been as mild. “That is a scenario that is extremely plausible, it’s not far-fetched.”
Residents Struggling and Angry
The hurricane was responsible for devastating power outages that have continued for over a week which has angered many residents. Under pressure from his constituents, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has called for an investigation into utility company CenterPoint Energy as the outages continue for multiple days and residents struggle.
“What I’m going to be doing immediately is instructing the Public Utility Commission to undertake an immediate study to find out why this is repeatedly happening in Houston, Texas,” said Abbott. “They should not be losing power.”
Bad Timing
The United States is currently being rocked by a devastating heat wave that is setting records across the country while millions of Americans are under heat advisories.
This is particularly bad timing for Texans without power, who will have limited ways to stave off the heat.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
While Texans try to use generator power to cool their homes and keep their food from rotting, at least two people have reportedly died because of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Local officials from Harris County have received more than 200 calls related to carbon monoxide poisoning as people rely on generator power to escape the heat and power necessary devices.
No End in Sight
Residents have expressed frustration at dealing with both the power outages and the heat while power restoration had no solid ETA for being resolved until early this week.
“Almost universally people have lost patience with CenterPoint,” Houston City Councilman Julian Ramirez told CNN. “CenterPoint can’t seem to tell us how long this is going to last.”
CenterPoint’s Response
Jason Ryan, CenterPoint’s executive vice president for regulatory services and government affairs, shared his empathy for the over 500,000 customers in the Houston area who still didn’t have power last week.
“We know we still have a lot of work to do,” said Ryan. “I know customers are frustrated.”
Resident Anger
Tensions remain high as the power remains out. One situation in Houston between the groups escalated when a CenterPoint Energy worker got a gun pulled on them.
“We all need to be calm and patient,” said Sheriff Eric Fagan in a news conference Thursday. “Everyone is working hard out there 24/7… You have to realize CenterPoint called people outside of the state to help with this emergency.”
Getting Warm
Unfortunately, words of encouragement cannot be used to cool you down when under the pressure of intense heat.
“You get very very warm, you open the windows and you just try to drink a lot of liquids,” said Elizabeth Garrison who lives north of Houston. “It was okay because we heard on Wednesday that a lot of people were going to get their power. So it’s like OK, I can make it Tuesday. But then Wednesday evening comes and you don’t have power and it’s even worse.”
Abbott’s Absence
Commenters online have also expressed outrage over Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s absence from the state while he was in Asia on an economic development tour.
“Uh, read the room…… You’re 1/2 way around the world while the people of your state struggle. Right now, furthering our relationship with Japan isn’t super important,” said an X user under a recent Abbott X post describing his meeting with Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Aid Delay
Residents are also angry with government leadership over a perceived delay in federal disaster funds. President Biden came out to accuse Texas officials of dropping the ball and delaying disaster relief, an accusation which Abbott has denied.
“States must meet a damage threshold to qualify for federal disaster funds. Texas officials rapidly assessed damages for Beryl to request funds. Acting Gov. Patrick requested a federal disaster declaration at the proper time, & Biden approved it. There was NO delay whatsoever,” said Abbott on X.
Investigation Deadline
As resident anger continues over the delays in power restoration, Abbott has increased pressure on the utility company to come up with a plan to minimize the impact of future outages.
“Just suffice it to say that the clock is ticking for CenterPoint to step up and get the job done,” Abbott said at a July 15 news conference in Houston.
Compromising Lives
Abbott blamed the utility company for compromising lives as the outage continued, expressing that the heat wave alone can threaten someone’s life.
“The lack of power (from) CenterPoint continues to compromise lives here in the Greater Houston-Harris County area,” Abbott said. “If you are without power in the extreme heat that we are facing, that alone can cause challenges.”
New Promise
On July 15, CenterPoint released a new statement detailing the work they have done to restore power to 92% of customers and promised to do what they could to get that number up as soon as possible.
“CenterPoint Energy has now restored power to 92% of impacted customers and remains on track to restore electricity to approximately 98% of impacted customers by the end of day on Wednesday, July 17. The company now expects to restore power to all customers who can receive power by Friday, July 19,” the statement said.
Strong Pace
CenterPoint described their progress in restoring power as better than they have done for any hurricane in history and blamed difficult conditions for the delay.
“We are grateful to our crews who have restored power to our customers at a stronger pace than we have been able to in any hurricane in our history, despite the difficult conditions,” said Lynnae Wilson, Senior Vice President, Electric Business. “We continue to work around-the-clock to get our remaining customers back online.”
Beryl’s Damage
According to CenterPoint, Hurricane Beryl not only knocked away infrastructure but disabled equipment on the customer side too.
“In addition to damaging CenterPoint’s electric infrastructure, Hurricane Beryl may have caused damage to customer-owned equipment,” said the CenterPoint statement.
Community Support
In the statement, CenterPoint also took the time to talk about the contributions it has made to help with disaster relief.
“CenterPoint has continued to support the communities it serves throughout this challenging time and beyond. Since Hurricane Beryl made landfall, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation has contributed nearly $1.7 million to disaster relief organizations,” said the statement.
Providing Meals
In addition to just monetary aid, CenterPoint has also helped the Salvation Army deliver 83,000 meals through its contributions.
“The company has also provided more than 90,000 bottles of water to cooling centers and other distribution centers throughout the greater Houston area and is continuing to deliver supplies to meet other immediate needs,” said CenterPoint.
Anger Continues
Although CenterPoint has put out a more definitive timeline since last week to restore power, they have not been able to escape criticism from people online.
“Except for when it gets dark… no night crews.. you guys should be working 24/7 until everyone is restored… day 8 comes to an end with no power #CenterPointless,” said X user Joshua Redfield under a July 15 CenterPoint post saying their crews “will not stop working” until power is restored.
Mixed Results
X user Irving Salinas posted a photo of a leaning power line, saying that CenterPoint had not properly secured the line and plunged their neighborhood back into darkness.
“Yall didn’t secure the line for at our neighborhood and now 1/2 of us are in the dark again,” said Salinas.
Thankful For Efforts
Some commenters acknowledged the attacks against the company but were still willing to thank them for their hard work in restoring power.
“Great to hear and even though I think yall are getting attacked we appreciate you. You all need to push back and demand respect while you restore us all. I’m not sure where on any of these local/state officials were told power would be restored for so many in such short time,” said one X user.
Government Subsidy
One commenter pointed out in response that CenterPoint Energy receives a government subsidy and should not be given such deference and respect.
“I got no respect for a company that is subsidized by the government to do a job, then doesn’t do it,” said an X user.
CenterPoint Funding
According to Subsidy Tracker, CenterPoint Energy has received over $11 million in state and local subsidies since 2010.
Of these subsidies, over $400,000 has come from the state of Texas. In terms of federal subsidies in the form of grants and tax credits, the company has received over $200 million.
