
Major US cities plunged into darkness after devastating storms cause mass power outages
Over 150,000 Americans were still in the dark after the Memorial Day weekend as severe storms knocked out power in the South.
In Texas alone, there were more than 125,000 people without power Tuesday morning, mainly in the Houston area.
Power issues also struck Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend, leaving several thousand homes still without power after the long weekend.
In Houston, severe thunderstorms and heavy rain battered the area, disrupting power throughout southeast Texas.
As many as 200,000 Texans lost electricity during the storm, with the majority still waiting for local power companies to repair the damage.
In Louisiana, over 100,000 spent the Memorial Day weekend in the dark after electrical company Entergy Louisiana intentionally turned off power to many customers in the New Orleans area Sunday afternoon.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) said this was done to prevent a bigger, uncontrolled blackout across the entire grid.
Nearly 12,000 were still without power in Louisiana and another 17,000 have no electricity in Mississippi heading into Tuesday, according to poweroutage.us.
More severe thunderstorms are still in the forecast for southern Texas on Tuesday, with AccuWeather predicting hail, flash flooding and possible tornadoes moving throughout the day.
The worst storms will likely hit the Austin and San Antonio areas Tuesday night, about 200 miles west of Houston.
At the same time, severe storms are still in the forecast for both Louisiana and Mississippi, where power issues are still being reported.
Texas power company Oncor posted on X that, 'Teams remain focused on restoring power as quickly and safely as possible to all who can safely receive power.'
Oncor services more than 13 million people in Texas. They're asking anyone who sees a downed power line due to the storm to keep family and pets away from it and contact 911 immediately.
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The Independent
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