Severe weather continues in Texas with 243,000-plus still without power after recent storms
While nearly a quarter-million people in Texas remain without power Friday following severe storms earlier this week, the National Weather Service has warned of more heavy rain and high winds.
“Heavy rain, thunder, lightning and flooding are impacting several of the communities where Oncor teams are working to restore these outages,” utility company Oncor said on its website.
Severe thunderstorm watches were also in effect Friday morning in southeast Texas, including Houston, where streets were flooded by Tuesday storms and a 16-year-old worker was killed northeast of the city, in the suburb of Magnolia.
Friday’s storm “does look like its going to be encompassing Texas again,” primarily with hail and strong winds of 60 mph (96.56 kph) into Friday night, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Josh Weiss.
Other areas are at risk of severe storms and flash flooding, Weiss said.
“Southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, Mississippi are likely to see strong winds and hail,” Friday afternoon through Saturday morning, with 2 to 4 inches of rain possible during the period.
Weiss said the threat of tornadoes is small, but not nonexistent. Any that occur are likely to be small.
In south Texas, high temperatures continue to pose a threat and the weather service has issued heat advisory for several areas, including Corpus Christi, Laredo and McAllen.
The weather service said the heat index — a combination of air temperature and humidity to indicate how the heat feels to the human body — could surpass 110 degrees F (43.3 degrees C) Friday afternoon.