Powerful afternoon storm caused power outages, street flooding throughout Houston area

UPDATE:

On Tuesday afternoon after the thunderstorms ripped through the Houston area, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo provided an update on the damage and power restoration timeline.

Thousands of Houston residents lost power during the storm, but CenterPoint said it was bringing back more than 1,800 crews to help assist with restoring power. Unlike the May 16 storm, where customers without power were mostly in one area, CenterPoint said Tuesday’s outage is more spread through the entire city.

The strongest winds were documented at 75 miles per hour near Bush Airport, which caused flooding in some areas and debris in others. All in all, Hidalgo said this week’s storm damage was not as severe as the past storm.

Houstonians who need assistance can call FEMA or 211.

USE THIS: Track flood waters in real-time using Houston’s Flood Warning System

This Afternoon’s Forecast:

A strong line of storms has pushed through SE Texas bringing severe hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall. Over three inches of rainfall fell downtown. Many have lost power.

Flood advisories are in place through this afternoon. Although the rain has moved out for most, there is still high water in many streets. Please be careful on the roads. When in doubt, find another route. Several cars have flooded out this afternoon.

Power outages were spiking over 300-thousand during the height of the storm around 2:30 p.m.

“A lot of these storms have an enormous amount of lightning with them as they’re moving their way through,” KPRC 2 Meteorologist Justin Stapleton said.

We’re tracking a flood and severe weather threat this afternoon and overnight.

“This may be a very fast-moving system through the afternoon, over the next 2 to 3 hours,” Stapleton said. “I would not be shocked to see a chance certainly for hail and we could also see some potential for some strong, damaging winds.”

Tonight’s Forecast:

These storms are continuing to advance toward the coast. As the storms push out conditions will get significantly better. The rest of the evening should remain quiet. There is a chance to see some additional storms flaring up early Wednesday morning through sunrise.

Why is it so hazy?

We haven’t seen any blue skies since Sunday? 168 active fires in Mexico and Central America are burning a quarter million acres of land. The smoke from these fires has moved into SE Texas lowering the air quality to poor. The storms today have cleared out the smoke and bring better air quality for the rest of the week.

10-Day Forecast & heat index:

There is relief from the heat in the forecast. It is replaced by thunderstorms but no excessive heat in the 10-day forecast.