Texas power outage map as Hurricane Beryl leaves 400K without power (2024)

Almost 400,000 Texans woke up without power on Monday morning as the state was battered by Hurricane Beryl.

A power outage map showed that 391,476 customers were affected as their homes and businesses fell dark, although power was restored for some within hours.

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The news comes amid flash flood alerts, while the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned of a "life-threatening" surge that could bring water up to 6 feet above ground level in some parts of Texas. Dozens of school districts closed their sites on Monday in a bid to protect students and staff. And several other states in the U.S. are also set to be affected as the weather system moves through the Midwest, meteorologists say.

As many in Texas are hunkered down in their homes, data experts at PowerOutage.us have collated figures about the nation's outages to create a map showing just how badly Texas as been hit.

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Analysis by the website, which was created to monitor energy access across the country, shows how the hurricane is already buffeting the area, wiping out power as the lines are downed in fierce winds. An eye-watering 391,476 customers in Texas did not have power at about 6.00 a.m. CT.

The situation improved for some within hours, however, as power to hundreds of thousands of homes was restored. By 7:40 a.m. CT (8:40 a.m. ET), the number of Texans without power stood at 163,687. There was also a significant outage across California too, which had 10,780 customers in the dark. The outage map can be viewed above.

Texas-based Centerpoint Energy's own outage tracker is "unavailable due to technical issues" dating back to May, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

In the meantime, its customers have been directed to an interim outage tracker, which currently says that more than 1 million customers have been "affected" so far. The company says 1,343,938 customers are affected, but that 320,150 customers have seen their power restored within the past 24 hours. There are currently 3,410 active outages, and 1,143 outages have been restored in the past 24 hours as of 8:21 a.m. CT on Monday.

News of the power outages comes after residents were advised by authorities to remain in their homes to wait out the hurricane. Millions had battened down the hatches, but may now struggle to cook food, watch TV to monitor local weather reports, or keep cool as air conditioners stop while temperatures are set to soar—up to around 81F in Houston, according to the National Weather Service. Houston and Galveston are also subject to flash flood warnings issues by the NWS.

Footage shared by wet and windswept reporters out in the field shows the force of gusts whipping rain sideways. The Weather Channel posted a clip on X (formerly Twitter) showing how meteorologist Molly McCollum was forced to kneel on the ground to avoid being blown away in Galveston. The post was captioned: "Powerful wind gusts and torrential rains are slamming the Texas coast as Hurricane #Beryl's eye moves inland."

Authorities have urged residents to continue to shelter as directed, and avoid leaving their homes where they may encounter floods or dangerous downed power lines.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office shared advice on X from the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). "The Texas State Emergency Operations Center remains in 24-hour Escalated Response Ops to support local officials as #Beryl approaches Texas," the TDEM said. "State agencies are working around the clock to care for Texas communities."

Experts fear that climate change will make extreme weather patterns worse in the coming years, with a series of researchers and scientists telling Newsweek their grim predictions for the future. Many believe that more thunderstorms and floods are likely, along with tornadoes, hurricanes and droughts.