According to Reuters, on 10th July, approximately 1.7 million Texas residents were still experiencing power outages, following Hurricane Beryl’s landfall two days earlier. Slow progress overnight hindered efforts to repair essential oil infrastructure.
As explained, on Monday, Hurricane Beryl struck land as a Category 1 hurricane close to Matagorda, a coastal town approximately 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Houston. It brought strong winds to Texas, resulting in the downing of numerous power lines and property damage.
Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re estimated that Hurricane Beryl caused at least $1 billion in economic losses in the U.S., with ongoing damage assessments.
Out of the 1.7 million Texans without power, 1.4 million were customers of CenterPoint Energy CNP.N, the largest provider in the state. CenterPoint reported restoring power to over 615,000 customers in the past 24 hours and aimed to restore power to 1 million affected customers by the end of the day.
Some customers questioned whether CenterPoint had sufficient crews before the storm. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick stated that an analysis would follow once power is fully restored. CenterPoint clarified that crews were positioned safely before the storm and were deployed as soon as it was safe to do so after Monday’s landfall.
Ports along the Texas Gulf Coast, closed ahead of the hurricane, were gradually reopening with restrictions. The Port of Houston planned to reopen on Wednesday for inbound vessels under specific conditions. Operations at the Port of Galveston resumed for some cruises, while cargo operations were anticipated to resume the next day. Power shortages affected some facilities at the Galveston port on Tuesday, limiting operations.
The Port of Freeport confirmed it was open with limited operations, noting ongoing traffic restrictions. Port facilities relied on backup power as utility crews worked to restore normal electricity supply, as stated by Freeport officials on Tuesday.
