HOUSTON (AP) — Power outages could last weeks in parts of Houston, an official warned Friday, after thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds tore through the city, knocking out electricity to nearly 1 million homes and businesses in the region, blowing out windows on downtown high rises and flipping vehicles.
The National Weather Service said it confirmed a tornado with peak winds of 110 mph (177 kph) touched down near the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress in Harris County.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, said crews were still trying to determine the extent of the damage and the number of casualties from Thursday’s storms. Houston Mayor John Whitmire said four people, and possibly five, had died.
“It was fierce. It was intense. It was quick, and most Houstonians didn’t have time to place themselves out of harms way,” Whitmire said at a news conference.
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With multiple transmission towers down, Hidalgo urged patience. Thousands of utility workers were headed to the area, where power had already been restored to roughly 200,000 customers. Another 100,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, down from a peak of 215,000.
“We are going to have to talk about this disaster in weeks, not days,” Hidalgo said.
She said she had heard “horror stories of just terror and powerlessness” as the storm came throu…
