AUSTIN, Texas — Nearly two dozen lineworkers and support personnel from Austin Energy are headed to the Houston area to help with ongoing power outages following Hurricane Beryl.
More than 3 million customers in Southeast Texas lost power during Monday's storms. Officials and power companies said they expect it to be a multi-day outage for most customers because of the widespread and extensive damage.
Austin Energy said it received a "mutual aid" request from Houston-based company CenterPoint Energy to restore power to affected communities. CenterPoint Energy has been criticized for not staging out-of-town crews ahead of Beryl.
Austin Energy says its teams are prepared to assist for up to a week.
“Providing mutual aid in natural disasters is something our lineworkers take great pride in, said Elton Richards with Austin Energy. “Any opportunity to train and hone our craft is a benefit to our community as well as those impacted by Hurricane Beryl.”
Other resources helping with Beryl's aftermath
Travis County Emergency Service District #1 is joining the Kyle Fire Department to help with the aftermath in East Texas.
Crews will assist with evacuating victims trapped in high-water areas after Beryl left behind flooded roads and extensive damage as it powered through the Ark-La-Tex region, where Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas converge.
According to the National Weather Service, Beryl produced 67 tornado warnings across the coverage area monitored by its Shreveport office. It's the most since Dec. 27, 2015, when the Shreveport office issued 36 tornado warnings.