The house is hot, the fridge is dying, and the street is a mix of working porch lights and dead transformers. That is a Houston flood night.
CenterPoint Energy runs most of this metro’s wires. Their outage map is the official picture. Your neighborhood chat is faster and wrong more often.
If water is at the meter or the panel, do not play electrician. Report the outage and stay away from downed lines.
Do this now
- Check the CenterPoint outage map and report your address if it is not already listed.
- Call CenterPoint at 713-207-2222 only after you confirm that number on CenterPoint’s site.
- Stay at least a full car length from downed lines and standing water near poles.
- If you smell burning or see arcing, back up and call 911.
How to report so it counts
Use the address where the meter is, not your mailing P.O. box. If you are in a fourplex, say which unit is dark.
A single report can represent a transformer. A second report from the next block still helps if the map shows you as restored and you are not.
Do not assume a truck on the feeder is coming to you. Crews triage hospitals, water plants, and then neighborhoods.
While you wait in the heat
Houston humidity turns a closed house into a box. If it is safe to open windows on the dry side, do it. If the yard is still a lake, you may be better at a cooling site listed on ReadyHarris.
Food in the fridge is a clock. Keep the doors shut. We will talk later about what you throw out. Right now, stop opening it for the leftover rice.
If you run a generator, it stays outside, away from windows. That is a carbon monoxide rule, not a suggestion.
Verify live. Status changes hourly. Outage restoration ETAs change hourly. Use CenterPoint’s own map and the phone number printed on CenterPoint’s site. 713-207-2222 is the widely published line; confirm it there before you dial.
Do this next
- 911 vs non-emergency vs 311 after a Houston flood
- Coast Guard / swift-water rescue: when to dial
- Shelters & evacuation hub
More in Who to call right now.