Houston power outages: More than 1M still without electricity Thursday

More than 1M without power in Houston area

CenterPoint Energy, which services the area, says it has now restored power to roughly 1 million people affected by the storm. However, the lack of power in the heat is causing problems for those still not restored.

HOUSTON, Texas - More than 1 million people are still without power in the Houston area after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Monday.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says that number is expected to be cut to 500,000 by Sunday.

Questions have been raised about CenterPoint's preparations for the storm, but the Lieutenant Governor says now is not the time.

"I want everyone at CenterPoint to have one job. Get the power back on. We'll talk about what happened before the storm later, just get the power back on," said Patrick.

Power provider CenterPoint Energy says they will begin providing residents with estimated restoration times on Thursday.

CenterPoint says there was "significant structural damage" across the region.

A map from CenterPoint Energy shows the assessment of the damage in much of the region has been completed.

MORE: CenterPoint outage map

The outages come in the midst of the summer heat.

A heat advisory is in effect for the area.

CenterPoint has restored power for about a million of the 2.26 million customers affected at the peak of its outages.

Much of the frustration for Houston residents has come because they have not been given a timeline for when power is expected to return.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire says the city will hold the power provider accountable.

"We expect CenterPoint to be prepared, they can do better," Whitmire said, "They need to do a review of action."

67 Texas counties have been approved for federal disaster assistance for Hurricane Beryl.