Tropical Storm Nicholas: Power outages reported across southeast Texas

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Tropical Storm Nicholas, which was downgraded from a hurricane early Tuesday morning, has caused power outages for hundreds of thousands of customers in southeast Texas.

The storm has brought heavy rain to some areas, and especially gusty winds.

According to CenterPoint Energy’s outage tracker, 404,783 customers were without electricity as of 5:14 a.m. Tuesday. The company had crews prepared ahead of the storm to make repairs as quickly as possible.

Closer to the Gulf Coast, another 34,105 customers were without power, according to electricity provider Texas-New Mexico Power.

CenterPoint customers can sign up to receive text messages, emails or phone calls to alert you when the power is out for your home, and get updates on how the work is progressing to have electricity restored.

In Galveston County, about 30,000 customers were without power as of 2:56 a.m., according to the county’s office of emergency management.

If you see a downed power line, stay away and call 911, officials advise.

Ahead of Nicholas’ landfall, ERCOT announced they’re preparing the grid to maintain reliability in the face of rain, winds and potential flooding. They reportedly made plans to reduce maintenance work that could impact power availability in areas most likely to be impacted by the tropical storm.