Austin Energy sends crews and trucks to Houston to restore power after Hurricane Beryl

AUSTIN, Texas — Two million Texans who lost electricity during Hurricane Beryl still did not have power on Tuesday afternoon. Even with temperatures climbing into the 90s, power companies say it could take days or even a week to get air conditioners and lights back on in Houston and other areas slammed by the Category 1 storm.

CenterPoint Energy in Houston sent out a massive call for help which included asking for mutual aid from Austin Energy. The Austin power company is sending crews and trucks to help speed up the power restoration process and get people out of the sweltering July heat.

Harold Reyes is part of the Austin Energy team ready to help. Together with 19 other line workers he was briefed to prepare for long shifts in taxing conditions.

“I’m sure heat is going to be the issue,” said Reyes.

The Austin Energy crew is taking 17 trucks to Houston to restore power to more than a million CenterPoint Energy customers. It is a small part of a massive force of 12,000 line workers and tree trimmers who are rolling in from across the country to get electricity on as fast as possible. It can be a logistical challenge bringing in that many workers to an area that’s suffering through a natural disaster.

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“You run into fuel shortages. You can’t find fuel. All of the communities that are there local are competing for the same resources. They’re looking for housing. Their electricity is out. So, it’s very difficult,” said Jeff Bradford with Austin Energy.

Safety is also a concern. Austin Energy line workers say it’s possible in the confusion of dealing with so many outages and workers that two crews will get assigned to work on the same circuit and only one knows when it’s being energized.

“For me, I’m most worried about the electricity because you can fix a snake bite but you can’t really fix an electrical burn,” said Andrew Fitzsimmons. “We want to go home to our families with all our fingers and toes.”

CenterPoint Energy expects to have power back on for about a million customers sometime Wednesday. That will still leave hundreds of thousands without electricity. Time is critical because the scorching heat can be especially unsafe for the elderly, children, and those with medical conditions.

“Be patient and the lights will come back on,” said Reyes.

The Austin Energy team is set to be in Houston for the next week or two. Line workers could stay longer if all the power has not been restored to areas hit by Hurricane Beryl.