Published on 05/18/2024
The death toll from the storm which caused significant damage Thursday in Houston, the largest city in Texas, rose to seven, local authorities announced Friday. The first report showed four deaths.
Among the three new deaths recorded is an 85-year-old woman who died after her mobile home was struck by lightning and completely destroyed by flames, the Harris County sheriff said.
A 60-year-old man was also found dead on Friday after trying to fill his oxygen tank with the battery of his pickup truck, due to widespread power outages. And a 57-year-old man collapsed after trying to move a power pole downed by the storm.
Schools closed
“We have suffered significant damage to office buildings in the city center, which have lost their windows […] More than 800,000 families are without electricity,” Mayor John Whitmire declared Thursday, describing this storm as “exceptional.”
Schools in this city of 2.4 million inhabitants, the fourth largest in the United States, are closed on Friday.
Images broadcast by local television channels and on social networks show how, under the power of the wind gusts, which reached up to 160 km/h, trees and electrical poles fell and windows of buildings were shattered.
ats, afp
