Amid extreme heat, more than one million southeast Texas residents have been without power for four days following Hurricane Beryl’s impact on the Gulf Coast.
The Category 1 hurricane, which made landfall Monday, has left approximately 1.3 million homes and businesses without electricity, resulting in dangerous and sometimes deadly conditions as people struggle to locate essential resources, reported CNN.
Food banks and other public services are working around the clock to distribute food to underserved areas as many stores remain closed, Houston City Councilman Julian Ramirez told the outlet.
The prolonged outages have also led to a spike in carbon monoxide poisoning cases as residents use generators to cool their homes. At least two deaths and over 200 carbon monoxide poisoning calls were reported in just 24 hours, according to officials in Harris County.
Meanwhile, temperatures have reached 90 degrees in Houston, with a heat index of up to 106 degrees.
Fire Chief Samuel Peña noted the life-threatening conditions for those without adequate cooling, reporting that nine fire stations in Houston have had to close and relocate due to a lack of generators, even as emergency calls surge.
Governor Greg Abbott has since called for an investigation into CenterPoint Energy, the primary utility company in Houston.
“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,” Abbott told Bloomberg TV from Asia, where he remains on an economic development mission. “They should not be losing power.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as governor in Abbott’s place for the time being, spoke during a Thursday press conference and added, “I’m sure we will find that there are things they could have done better.”