The big picture
Just days before Hurricane Beryl made landfall July 8, the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs and the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University concluded a study looking at the number of blackouts caused by natural disasters and hurricane season preparedness across the state.
In the first seven months of 2024, the Greater Houston area has seen flooding, tornadoes and a Category 1 hurricane. With these storms came power outages.
“Power outages in Houston have become one of the main sources of uncertainty in post-disaster recovery for the majority of Texans, especially for the most vulnerable populations,” Maria Paula Perez Argüelles, a research associate at UH’s Center for Public Policy, said in a July 18 news release.
By the numbers
Beryl left over 2.2 million CenterPoint Energy customers without power, with some restorations not being resolved until over 10 days later.
With previous storm events, the survey showed that more than 50% of survey respondents in Harris County experienced prolonged blackouts during Winter Storm Uri and Hurricane Harvey.
Additionally, the survey showed most respondents have prepared in some way for what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting will be an above-average hurricane season. Only 0.13% of the 2,257 Texas respondents didn’t prepare at all for the season.
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The most common preparations included charging devices, buying water and food, gathering emergency kits and filling gas tanks.
“Even before Beryl made landfall, our survey showed that people in Beryl’s path took more steps to prepare,” Gail Buttorff, associate director of the Center for Public Policy and professor of public policy at UH, said in the release.
The study is the fourth segment of the Texas Trends Survey, a five-year research project launched in 2021. According to the report, the 2024 survey explores:
- Extreme weather
- 2024 general election
- School vouchers
- Housing
- Border security and immigration
This persistent electricity issue underscores the vulnerability of the power infrastructure in Texas, particularly in the Houston area and other coastal regions, the report states.
Texans have faced significant impacts from natural disasters over the past few years with blackouts being the leading impact, Pablo Pinto, director of the Center for Public Policy and professor at the Hobby School of Public Affairs, said in the release.
“Our findings not only underscore the vulnerability of Texas’ power infrastructure, particularly in Houston and the Gulf Coast region, but suggest a need for targeted solutions to improve power grid stability statewide,” he said.
