In his press conference, Mayor John Whitmer spoke of four confirmed deaths, but added that it was likely that one more person would die. He added that at least two people died due to falling trees, and one person died when a crane fell due to strong winds.
The chief official of Harris County, which includes Houston, Lina Hidalgo, said that many electricity distribution towers were damaged by strong hurricane winds, and specialists are constantly working to restore them, but eliminating them will take weeks, not days. The consequences of the storm asked those affected to be patient.
The storm that occurred Thursday and Friday knocked out power to nearly a million customers in southeast Texas, and another 215,000 homes and businesses were without power in neighboring Louisiana.
In Houston and surrounding areas, according to clear reports, a school break was ordered for a total of 400,000 students across all school districts. According to weather reports, the windows of hundreds of high-rise buildings, including office, residential and hotel buildings, were shattered in the storm, which exceeded 100 mph, covering the streets of downtown Houston with debris. The authorities asked the public to avoid the downtown area, and police reinforced the security of buildings to prevent possible looting.
More storms are expected in the southern states of the United States on Friday, and tornadoes may also form in some places, most likely in Louisiana and Alabama, while flood warnings have been issued in the southeastern part of Texas. The Houston area has already been hit by several storms in recent weeks, and hundreds of people have been evacuated due to the flooding of the San Jacinto River near the big city.
In the United States, especially in the central states, April of this year saw more storms than average, and tornadoes formed in much higher numbers than usual. A total of 320 tornadoes were recorded, more than double the average. The hurricanes destroyed dozens of residential buildings in several settlements, and hundreds of buildings were severely damaged.
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