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Over a million Texans without power, some turn to Whataburger for updates

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More than 1.3 million homes remained without power in Texas on Thursday, July 11, in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl’s landfall on Monday. Houston’s power utility officials said that hundreds of thousands of customers will have electricity restored in the coming days. However, officials said that around 500,000 customers will still be without power heading into next week.

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“We’ve committed within 48 hours to get 50% of our customers back on.” Brad Tutunjian, the vice president of Regional Operations for CenterPoint Energy, said. “We, we are on target to do that.”

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The lagging timetable is causing frustration among many Houston residents as they face dangerous heat and humidity. Many Houstonians search for places to cool off, get fuel or grab a bite to eat. Hospitals have been forced to reportedly send dozens of patients to a sports and event complex because of the electrical outages.

The continued struggle to restore power to customers in need is leading to questions from locals as to why utility, state and city officials were not more prepared for a Category 1 hurricane.

Houston’s mayor told the city’s utility company, CenterPoint Energy, to do better. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is the acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott, R, is on a trip to Asia, said that the time it has taken to restore power is “unacceptable.”

Adding to the trouble for residents is the fact that CenterPoint reportedly does not have a properly functioning outage map. As many residents searched for updates after the storm, the lack of information from CenterPoint had many turning to Whataburger’s app for power outage updates.

“The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn’t show a map,” one Houstonian posted on X.

Similar to the Waffle House Index, an unofficial outage indicator, the Whataburger app shows which locations are open the area. Houston residents said that the when the app shows that a location is open, it has been pretty safe to assume that power in the area has been or is being restored in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, CenterPoint said that the majority of power outages were caused by falling trees and tree limbs. Workers completed damage surveys on more than 8,500 miles of power lines.

At least eight U.S. deaths have been attributed to Beryl, including six in Texas and one each in Louisiana and Vermont. Beryl also caused 11 deaths in the Caribbean.

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[JACK AYLMER]

HURRICANE BERYL IS LONG GONE – BUT THE IMPACT ITS LEFT ON THE POWER GRID LOOMS LARGE. 

MORE THAN A MILLION HOMES REMAIN IN THE DARK IN TEXAS NEARLY FOUR DAYS AFTER THE STORM MADE LANDFALL.

AND OFFICIALS WARN IT WILL BE SEVERAL MORE – UNTIL MANY PEOPLE GET THEIR POWER BACK.

OFFICIALS SAYING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE POWER RESTORED IN THE COMING DAYS– BUT AROUND 500-THOUSAND CUSTOMERS WON’T HAVE ELECTRICITY UNTIL NEXT WEEK.

THE LAGGING PROGRESS IS CAUSING FRUSTRATION AMONG HOUSTON RESIDENTS WHO FACE DANGEROUS HEAT AND HUMIDITY AS THEY SEARCH FOR PLACES TO COOL OFF, GET FUEL OR GRAB A BITE TO EAT.

EVEN HOSPITALS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO SEND DOZENS OF PATIENTS TO A SPORTS COMPLEX BECAUSE OF OUTAGES.

THE CONTINUED TROUBLES ARE LEADING TO QUESTIONS FROM LOCALS AS TO WHY UTILITY, STATE AND CITY OFFICIALS WEREN’T MORE PREPARED FOR THIS STORM.

HOUSTON’S POWER UTILITY, CENTERPOINT ENERGY, ACKNOWLEDGED MOST OF THE 12-THOUSAND WORKERS BROUGHT IN TO HELP IN HOUSTON WEREN’T THERE WHEN THE HURRICANE HIT BUT ARE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO RESTORE ELECTRICITY NOW. 

ADDING TO RESIDENTS’ TROUBLES– CENTERPOINT ENERGY DOESN’T HAVE A PROPERLY FUNCTIONING OUTAGE MAP. 

THE LACK OF ACCURATE INFORMATION HAS EVEN INSPIRED SOME TEXANS TO TURN TO WHATABURGER FOR OUTAGE UPDATES.

ONE HOUSTONIAN POSTING ON X:

“THE WHATABURGER APP WORKS AS A POWER OUTAGE TRACKER, HANDY SINCE THE ELECTRIC COMPANY DOESN’T SHOW A MAP.”

SIMILAR TO THE WAFFLE HOUSE INDEX, AN UNOFFICIAL OUTAGE INDICATOR FOR THOSE UNFAMILIAR, THE WHATABURGER APP SHOWS WHICH LOCATIONS ARE OPEN IN YOUR AREA.

THOSE LIVING IN HOUSTON SAY WHEN THE APP SHOWS A LOCATION OPEN– IT’S BEEN SAFE TO ASSUME POWER IN THE AREA IS RESTORED.

MEANWHILE, THE TEXAS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR IS CALLING THE PACE OF RESTORATION UNACCEPTABLE. 

HE AND THE MAYOR OF HOUSTON ARE DEMANDING CENTERPOINT STEP UP THEIR EFFORTS TO RESTORE POWER. 

WE’LL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE RECOVERY – AND YOU CAN TOO.

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