Texas deaths from Hurricane Beryl climb to at least 36, including more who lost power in heat

Thursday, July 25, 2024
HOUSTON, Texas -- The number of Texas deaths after Hurricane Beryl came ashore and knocked out power to millions of residents climbed to at least 36 on Thursday as officials confirmed more people who died in homes that were left without air conditioning during sweltering heat.

The medical examiner's office in Fort Bend County confirmed nine more deaths, including four that were at least partially attributed to hyperthermia, or when a person's body temperature rises far above normal. At least a dozen other residents in the Houston area also died from complications due to the heat and losing power, according to officials.

The video above is from a previous report.

Most Houston residents had their electricity restored last week after days of widespread outages during sweltering summer temperatures.

On Thursday, CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells, the head of the city's power utility, told state regulators the company was already working to better prepare for the next storm. The governor and lawmakers have demanded answers from the utility over why electricity was out for so long.



Beryl, a Category 1 hurricane, made landfall on July 8, knocking out electricity to nearly 3 million people in Texas at the height of the outages.

SEE ALSO:

Woman says sister 'didn't have to die that way' after Beryl left them without power for days

City apologizes for response to Beryl and lives lost, calling the 'man-made disaster' avoidable

HPD employee drowned on his way to work during Beryl storms, Mayor John Whitmire says

Another Beryl fatality confirmed after woman using oxygen mask loses power in Galveston Co.

Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.