Power is on its way — but so is heat and humidity Power is on its way — but so is heat

CenterPoint says big fixes done; forecasters say cool front leaving

On Day 6 of the largest blackout in Texas history, CenterPoint Energy's power restorations approached a million but that still leaves more than half its customers without power nearly a week after Hurricane Ike shredded the local electricity network.

The transmission company that serves most of the Houston area said its army of 11,000 workers from its own ranks and from cooperating companies outside the region have completed all major fixes — from high-voltage transmission lines to neighborhood substations — except for those on devastated Galveston Island.

Those still without power are about to lose one natural blessing that followed the storm — a cool front that dried the air and made houses without power for air conditioning more tolerable.

The National Weather Service predicts higher temperatures, more humidity and a chance of rain today. "No more 50s at night," said meteorologist Josh Lichter. "At least not for a while."

Beginning Saturday and continuing through at least Tuesday, high temperatures will be in the upper 80s, forecasters say.

CenterPoint spokesman Floyd LeBlanc characterized the next stage of repairs as a "sweeping strategy" focused on repairing line fuses that serve 100 to 300 customers. A customer can translate to several people, such as a household.

This morning, CenterPoint said it had restored power to 1.05 million of its 2.26 million customers, 46 percent. Entergy reported that 197,000, just about half its Texas customers, had power this morning. Texas-New Mexico Power had restored 73 percent of 115,000 customers as of Thursday night.

'Everybody can't be first'

With all major fixes complete and still only about half of service restored, CenterPoint is getting a better grasp of how seriously the storm damaged its system, LeBlanc said.

"This line fuse restoration stage we've progressed to is really a massive tree removal effort," he said. "We put groups into isolated territories. First the linemen ground the wires to make it secure, then tree crews go in there like gangbusters and as soon as they're done the linemen are back in putting poles back up and hanging the wire."

The result is a patchwork that can restore power to many people in a neighborhood while others right across the street or next door stay in the dark.

"In a situation where everyone wants their power on now it's tough. Everybody can't be first and everybody can't be next. We have to take care of the most acute situations and work to get the most customers back at one time," LeBlanc said.

At this point, that usually won't include fixing transformers that may serve just 10 customers.

One acute need, he said, is restoring electricity to nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Breathing machines that run on electricity and diabetes medicine that requires refrigeration put some people who need those things in a bind. And it's becoming a chore to find fresh food for residents in large care facilities since everything in industrial-sized freezers and refrigerators spoiled days ago.

Meanwhile, some residents who have power found it's enough to operate lights, televisions and some appliances, but not enough juice to power central air-conditioning units.

CenterPoint said usually that problem is on the customer's side of the system, starting with the weatherhead — the capped metal pipe where the power enters the house. A damaged weatherhead can prevent any restoration of power, or limit power.

The customer will need to call a licensed electrician for those repairs, the company said, as well as for damage to meters and internal house wiring. Such repairs typically require a city permit, although that rule may be waived during an emergency.

Transformers still failing

The city of Houston is waiving the requirement for Ike-related damage to outside power components, said Gary Bridges , senior assistant director for code enforcement with the city's Public Works Department

As customers try to determine when their lights will be back, CenterPoint's online map showing power outages by ZIP code has proved so popular it has cratered the company's Web site several times. And some residents say information provided for their area does not jibe with their experience.

LeBlanc said keeping the report current is more complicated than it may sound, "and as soon as it's issued it's old."

He cited two main reasons for discrepancies.

Weakened trees continue to fall on power lines, causing new outages or undoing repairs. And surges can knock out transformers as circuits are restored.

Dana Gordon contemplated the return of heat and possibility of rain Thursday as he sat outside his home in Riverside off Texas 288.

"That first night after the electricity went out, it was just terrible. You're trying to sleep, you're sweating and swatting away mosquitoes. It's going to be awful," Gordon said.

He said he worries how the heat will affect his wife, Donna, since it can worsen her symptoms from multiple sclerosis.

Lichter, the meteorologist, said a 10 percent chance of rain is projected each day this weekend and Friday's high is expected to reach 86 degrees, while highs in days to come could hit 87 or 88. "But this is not going to be anything like August heat — we're not going to get close to that," he said.

Chronicle reporter Peggy O'Hare contributed to this story.

lynn.cook@chron.com