Hurricane Beryl and extreme heat cause disaster in Texas

Widespread power outages following Hurricane Beryl pose a new threat as temperatures soar in Texas this week.

Beryl invaded the Lone Star State yesterday, killing at least six people and cutting off electricity for about 2.7 million customers. The power was still out for more than 2.2 million on Tuesday morning. Blackouts could last days or weeks, officials say, leaving people without air conditioning as the heat index reaches triple digits.

“The lack of adequate cooling, combined with many people outdoors cleaning Beryl, could produce dangerously hot conditions,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said. he said this morning.

It could take “a few days” to get the power back on, Texas Public Utility Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson said in a statement. Press conference yesterday. Parts of hard-hit Galveston could be without electricity for as long as two weeks.

Power outages in the U.S. have increased more than they did a decade ago — mostly because of “major events” like hurricanes and winter storms, according to the US Energy Information Administration. When more extreme weather conditions trigger blackouts, the risk of heat-related illness and death increases. The increase in global temperatures, resulting from greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, contributes to more frequent and intense hot flashes. Higher temperatures also put a strain on storms, which gather forces of thermal energy at the sea surface.

Hurricane Beryl broke records, driven by rising sea temperatures. And the strongest tropical storm on record to develop in the Atlantic early in hurricane season. It grew into a monstrous Category 5 storm on July 2, wreaking havoc in the Caribbean and Mexico before weakening to a Category 1 storm and making landfall in Texas. Despite lower sustained wind speeds, Beryl brought more than 10 inches of rain along parts of the Texas Gulf Coast and storm surge of up to six feet.

Oppressive heat is also affecting much of the US this week, with nearly half of the country’s population – almost 160 million people – under heat warnings today. Warm kills more people in the US each year than floods and hurricanes, although these deaths can be prevented if people have a safe place to cool off. Heat deaths can also increase after storms trigger power outages, which happened in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida in 2021. More people he died in New Orleans from the heat that followed Ida rather than from the storm itself.