100,000 people are still without power after tropical storm Harvey flooded the Houston area. 800 crew members at Centerpoint Energy are on the ground trying to restore electricity as quickly as possible. More crew members from other parts of Texas as well as Louisiana, Florida, Kansas, Alabama and Tennessee are expected to arrive to assist.
As of Friday, Centerpoint has restored power to more than 713,000 customers, with more than 100,000 of those in the past 24 hours. Currently, 96% of Centerpoint Energy customers have power. However, trees and branches weakened by the flooding continue to fall on power lines, which may create additional outages in areas that have already been repaired.
Approximately 40,000 customers are still currently impacted by high water, and cannot be reached by Centerpoint Energy. In a press release, Centerpoint energy said that certain streets where water looks receded might still be inaccessible because the equipment that needs to be repaired is still impacted by flooding.
The company is currently using helicopters to survey larger electric infrastructures such as transmission lines and substations. Drones will be used to access damage in areas that are currently inaccessible do to flooding.
In the meantime, Centerpoint encourages people to contact a licensed electrician to advise and assist during flooding conditions. Customers should keep in mind that even if service at meters are disconnected, there could still be voltage present in the water.