Millions of Texans are without power for a third summer day after Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc through several counties — including the state’s most populous one — and temperatures again rise dangerously into the 90s. Power companies have deployed thousands of workers to restore power while state and local officials navigate residents’ frustrations at what’s becoming routine in Texas: massive power outages after winter storms, thunderstorms, tornadoes or hurricanes. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 1.
6 million electricity customers concentrated in the southeastern corner of the state that bore the brunt of Beryl’s fierce winds still didn’t have electricity. Power companies and elected officials said it could be days before everyone has electricity again. Matagorda County Judge Bobby Seiferman said Wednesday some 2,500 households in the coastal community of Sargent may be without power for another two weeks.
That means people without air conditioning will have to figure out how to cope with the heat. The heat index is projected to push past 100 degrees in some areas, compounding the risk for an already battered and worn out area. “The power system is a life saving critical infrastructure — it’s the difference between life and death,” said Costa Samaras, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
“The era of nobody could have foreseen these conditions is over.” The Public Utility Commission of Texas, which re.
