HOUSTON – The math is good if you’re looking at percentages for power restored in the last week.
More than 900,000 customers lost power exactly one week ago when the rare derecho storms and tornadoes hit the Houston area.
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On Day 7 of recovery, 97 percent of those customers were back online.
RELATED: Power outage updates
For the 25,000 without electricity for a full week now, however, the math doesn’t matter.
Moses Lopez, for example, landed in the unlucky bunch. He told KPRC 2′s Deven Clark it was so hot inside his apartment that Lopez and his children had to stay outside where the near triple-digit heat index felt cooler. The mosquitoes were also relentless. The food is sparse. In his case, the apartment complex also has to make onsite repairs before CenterPoint can turn the power back on.
A similar situation at a senior center where Houston firefighters had to carry people down the stairs. Fire Chief Samuel Pena pointed out in this type of heat, there’s no way to keep medicine cool or medical devices running.
6 days of hell…seniors with limited mobility and food insecurity, no A/C in 100 degree heat, no way to keep medication and charge medical devices
— Chief Samuel Peña (@FireChiefofHFD) May 23, 2024
How could property management be so callous and leave seniors to fend for themselves?…this should be criminal
Love your neighbor🙏🏽 https://t.co/jiVm1jQa2f
CenterPoint’s Logan Anderson explained to KPRC 2′s Bill Spencer this week that the last customers without power may also be the ones unfortunately stuck in more complex situations like CenterPoint’s lines buried deep under debris which takes longer to repair, or property owners who have to first fix damage to meter boxes or “infrastructure” CenterPoint says they’re responsible for, not the utility.
“So these last, restorations are going to be the most challenging,” she said. “They’re going to be the ones that require the most, singular focus, by our team members. Like, it’s not going to be a crew restoring a circuit or a few, it’s going to be line to line. But we are determined to get it done.”
“So we have a little less than 25,000 customers that remain out,” Alyssia Oshodi with CenterPoint told KPRC 2′s Zach Lashway Thursday morning, adding their crews are still working around the clock.
“And we’re very proud of those efforts and we are just incredibly thankful for the resources that have helped us get to this point, but we still have customers that are out and that’s where our focus is now,” Oshodi added.
If you are still without power:
Call CenterPoint: 713-207-2222
Call 911 if you or a loved one or neighbor is experiencing heat-related symptoms
Try to get to a cooling center on this list and call 311 if you need a ride!
Here are the verified cooling center locations:
Metropolitan Multi-Service Center at W. Gray | 1475 W. Gray St. Houston TX 77019 | Opens at 8 a.m. pm to 7 p.m.
Acres Homes Multi-Service Center | 6719 W. Montgomery Rd. Houston, TX 77091 | Opens at 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center | 4410 Reed Rd. Houston, TX 77051 | Opens at 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Kingwood Community Center | 4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood TX 77345 | Opens at 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Woodlands Community Center |212 Parkview St. Houston TX 77009 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Keep in mind that the cooling centers are not distributing water and ice at this time.
Water and ice can be found at the locations listed here:
Precinct 1
Lincoln Park Community Center | 979 Grenshaw St, Houston, 77088 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Julia C. Hester House | 2020 Solo St, Houston, 77020 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Precinct 2
Leonel J. Castillo Community Center | 2101 South St, Houston, TX 77009 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Leon Grayson / Baldree Community Center | 13828 Corpus Christi St, Houston, TX 77015 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Additional locations supported by the county can be found at readyharris.org
Precinct 4
Cooling, Charging, & Distribution Center @ Bayland Community Center | 6400 Bissonnet St., Houston, TX 77074 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Cooling & Charging Center @ Tracy Gee Community Center | 3599 Westcenter Dr., Houston, TX 77042 | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Drive Up Distribution Centers:
Radack Community Center | 18650 Clay Rd., Houston, TX 77084 | 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Weekley Community Center | 8440 Greenhouse Rd., Cypress, TX 77433