CNN
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More than 1 million Texas customers lost power on Tuesday as a powerful storm brought another wave of intense weather to a state still struggling with a nearly relentless string of destructive and deadly storms in recent weeks.
The storm unleashed hurricane-force winds across the Dallas area, with wind gusts of 77 mph recorded at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport early Tuesday, and power outages began to surge across the region.
The same destructive storm that hit Dallas hit Houston on Tuesday afternoon with hurricane-force winds, with wind gusts of 75 mph recorded at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
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Storm damage is seen at a warehouse in Terrell, Texas, on May 28, 2024.
Power outages began increasing in the Dallas area early Tuesday morning, then spread south as the storm swept through the state, according to PowerOutage.us. Hundreds of thousands of power outages were reported in Dallas County, and officials issued a disaster declaration and warned the outages could last for days.
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The storm arrived as residents were mourning the deaths of at least seven people. Severe storms pounded the state over Memorial Day weekend. Nearly 20 people, including four children, have been killed in five states and several communities have suffered extensive losses of homes and businesses as storms ripped through the central United States over the holiday period.
Parts of Texas and far western Louisiana face the most severe weather threat on Tuesday. Large hail, lightning and wind gusts up to 80 mph are the main threats from any storms. A few tornadoes are also possible, according to the National Weather Service.
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Some of the same areas hit by the storm early Tuesday could see more storms Tuesday night as another storm develops over West Texas and Oklahoma late in the afternoon and moves eastward.
An unusually high number of tornadoes and destructive storms have hit the central US in recent weeks, and the back-to-back heavy rains could pose challenges for some areas still struggling to recover.
Sunday was the most severe weather day so far this year, with more than 600 reports of high winds and hail in more than 20 states, including wind gusts of over 75 mph and softball-sized hail. There were also 26 reported tornadoes in 10 states. The storms reduced homes and businesses to piles of rubble, blew cars over the top, and downed power lines.
It may take days for power to be fully restored in the Dallas-Fort Worth area after a severe storm brought hurricane-force wind gusts Tuesday morning. Dallas is the second major Texas city to have critical power infrastructure damaged by severe weather in less than two weeks.
“Unfortunately, we will be experiencing several days of power outages, similar to what we saw in Harris County and Houston,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins warned at a press conference Tuesday.
A derecho and tornadoes struck the Houston metropolitan area in mid-May, bringing wind gusts of up to 100 mph, killing many and leaving power outages for days.
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Storm damage is seen in Dallas, Texas, on May 28, 2024.
The full extent of the damage to Dallas-area power infrastructure is still being assessed, but current projections are concerning, said Grant Crews, a spokesman for Oncor, the state’s largest utility.
“This weather event has caused a significant number of power lines to be down,” Cruz said at a press conference Tuesday. “In many cases, it will not be just a simple repair. We are looking at complete rebuilds in some of our areas.”
As a result of the damage caused by the storm, Governor Jenkins issued a disaster declaration for Dallas County.
The outages came as some Texans were heading to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the primary runoff elections. More than a third of polling places in Dallas County were without power by Tuesday afternoon, Jenkins said.
Texas will see an easing of summer-like heat this week, but people without electricity or a reliable way to stay cool could still face the risk of dangerous heatstroke and heat exhaustion.
CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this report.
