Austin Energy sending crews to Houston to help with Hurricane Beryl recovery
Austin Energy is sending 20 lineworkers and support personnel to Houston Tuesday afternoon to help with restoration efforts as millions were left without power in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.
Editor’s Note: The above video shows KXAN News’ top morning headlines from Tuesday, July 9, 2024.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Energy is sending 20 lineworkers and support personnel to Houston Tuesday afternoon to help with restoration efforts as millions were left without power in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.
Beryl made landfall Monday around 4 a.m. near Matagorda, Texas, as a Category 1 Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Beryl was later downgraded to a tropical storm.
The storm left flooding and wind damage in its path, and at least six people have died in Texas because of it.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, more than 2.3 million homes and businesses around Houston lacked electricity Tuesday morning, down from a peak of over 2.7 million on Monday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Austin Energy's team will leave for Houston at 1 p.m., taking with them bucket trucks and support vehicles to help restore power to the affected communities. They are prepared to stay and provide assistance for up to a week, according to the utility.
CenterPoint Energy requested the mutual aid, and it estimates restoration efforts will take days or weeks and is enlisting approximately 12,000 lineworkers and vegetation management professionals, according to Austin Energy.
Power lines downed by the effects of Hurricane Beryl block a highway near Palacios, Texas, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) 
A tree uprooted by the effects of Hurricane Beryl lies in a lawn, Monday, July 8, 2024, in Bay City, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) 
Aftermath of Hurricane Beryl on the morning of Monday, July 8, 2024 in Surfside Beach, Texas (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey) 
People gather outside a home in the 17400 block of Rustic Canyon Trail where Maria Loredo, 74, died after a tree fell on her second story bedroom during Hurricane Beryl Monday, July 8, 2024, in Houston. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP) 
Aftermath of Hurricane Beryl on the morning of Monday, July 8, 2024 in Surfside Beach, Texas (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey) 
Aftermath of Hurricane Beryl on the morning of Monday, July 8, 2024 in Surfside Beach, Texas (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey) 
Fire crews in Spring, Texas, are reportedly dealing with downed trees, power lines, transformer fires, and serious accidents in the wake of Beryl's landfall on July 8, 2024. (Photo: Spring Fire Department via X) 
Floodwaters are leftover in Houston Tuesday after Hurricane Beryl hit the area Monday. Photo shows water covering Allen Parkway near Montrose Boulevard on July 9, 2024. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)
“Providing mutual aid in natural disasters is something our lineworkers take great pride in and our crews will work hard to restore power to families in Houston,” said Elton Richards, Austin Energy Vice President of Electric System Field Operations, in a release. “Any opportunity to train and hone our craft is a benefit to our community as well as those impacted by Hurricane Beryl.”
Austin Energy has previously sent crews to different cities to aid in restoration efforts following natural disasters.
The utility also sent a team to Houston in May following thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds, which killed at least four people.