Update 3:11 p.m.
According to Rosio Torres-Segura, communications administrator for the Office of Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, despite power being out at least a dozen of the county’s 313 voting centers, voters remain able to cast their ballots.
The machines voters use are backed up by battery power, allowing those at vote centers without power to continue to vote without interruption. So far, Torres-Segura said none of the locations that lost power have had to close, and some vote centers’ lights are flickering back on.
Torres-Segura added that the elections department has yet to send a list of the vote centers affected by the power outages because several have reported that their power has been restored. She confirmed that no voters have had to be turned away.
Houston TranStar reported high water in areas along IH-10 East Westbound at Waco Street, IH-45 North Southbound at North Main Street and IH-610 East Loop Northbound at Clinton Drive. Residents of Sawyer Heights, Washington Heights and Montrose took to their respective X accounts to document the water they drove through on Tuesday afternoon.
All transportation on Houston METRO’s light rails was suspended temporarily, and HOV lanes shut down as inclement weather passed through the region.
At 3 p.m., CenterPoint’s Outage Tracker reported over 317,800 residents did not have power.
Original Story:
Houstonians who are driving throughout their work day or looking out the window anxiously anticipating the hurricane-level winds of two weeks ago can rest assured that Tuesday’s line of strong storms will be unlike the derech event.
According to Matt Lanza, a meteorologist with Space City Weather, afternoon conditions will intensify, bringing high winds, hail, heavy rain and lightning into the region. These conditions will likely remain until 3 p.m.
Houston Intercontinental Airport reported gusts as high as 75 mph around 1 p.m., and rain rates up I-45 toward The Woodlands ran roughly three to four inches per hour. Lanza took to X to indicate that flash flooding would likely commence.
Much of the Houston area is expected to receive one to three inches of rain; however, as these storms enter the city, they could slow producing more rainfall, which could cause higher isolated totals of four or more inches.
As of 2 p.m., CenterPoint Energy reported more than 250,000 residents were without power in the Houston area due to Tuesday’s afternoon storms. This comes just days after hundreds of thousands of customers’ power was restored after the derecho storm.
Harris County Elections Department updated its X page to notify Election Day voters wanting to cast their ballots before vote centers close this evening that at least a dozen vote centers had lost power due to the inclement weather. Personnel were actively working to restore power at the locations affected by the outages.
The National Weather Service placed Houston and other nearby areas under a severe thunderstorm watch until 6 p.m. Meteorologists advised individuals to stay indoors if conditions strengthened.
This story will be updated as needed.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
