At least four people lost their lives in a catastrophic thunderstorm that struck Houston, wiping out electricity to over 800,000 homes and businesses.

Significant damage was wreaked throughout Southeast Texas by the hurricane, which took seven lives. Power lines, falling trees, and lightning strikes were the main causes of the deaths, according to officials.

Some of the notable incidents were an elderly woman killed by lightning-caused fire, a man killed while attempting to move a damaged electrical pole, a man found unconscious after losing electricity and in need of oxygen, and a mother of four killed when a tree fell on her car while she was trying to move it to safety.

At least 802,000 homes and businesses in Harris County and more than 925,000 customers throughout Southeast Texas were left without electricity as a result of the storm’s 110mph gusts bringing down multiple power lines.

Approximately 600,000 residences and businesses were without electricity as of Friday night. The majority of outages were in Harris County, which includes Houston and has a population of over 4.7 million people.

Infrastructure Damage

The storm caused major damage to Houston’s infrastructure. Winds reaching speeds not experienced since Hurricane Alicia in 1983 blew out hundreds of windows in downtown high-rise buildings.

Glasses could be seen all over the city’s streets, and traffic lights were out. At Minute Maid Park, the storm also caused havoc for Houston Astros home games, as fans reported water pouring through the roof.

The extensive damage forced the Houston Independent School District to call off Friday’s classes. In addition to declaring that the majority of downtown Houston businesses will remain closed, Mayor Whitmire encouraged non-essential employees to stay at home.

Over the weekend, Harris County libraries were set aside as spaces for citizens to charge their electronics and cool off.

Severe Weather Threat

According to FlightAware, the hurricane also affected air travel, with 104 flights at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport being canceled 24 hours after the incident.

The storm moved on to neighboring Louisiana, where about 29,000 households were left without power.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for the Gulf Coast, with Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Gulfport at high risk.

The harsh weather comes after a terrible storm that struck the Houston region just six weeks prior, killing and injuring people in the Katy suburb. Authorities are putting a lot of effort into repairing the damage and getting the impacted areas back to normal.