Houston ISD says 60 schools were damaged by Hurricane Beryl

Houston Public Media, Adam Zuvanich | Posted on July 13, 2024, 10:48 AM

Summer school was suspended this week in Houston's largest school district, which like much of the city is trying to recover from Hurricane Beryl.

Houston ISD said Friday the "overwhelming majority" of its 274 campuses lost electricity on Monday, when Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane and blew through the region while causing multiple deaths, widespread flooding and damage to trees, structures and infrastructure. Roughly 70 of its schools remained without power as of Friday morning, the district said.

"HISD was dramatically impacted by Hurricane Beryl," the district said in a news release.

Sixty HISD schools reported roof or structural damages, and 50 had trees down on their campuses, the district said. HISD also coped with fallen trees, damaged facilities and power outages during the mid-May derecho that knocked out power for more than 900,000 homes, schools and businesses in the region.

More than 2.2 million customers lost electricity during Monday's hurricane, according to CenterPoint Energy, which supplies power to much of the region. As of Friday afternoon, more than 800,000 of its customers remained without power.

The HISD press office did not grant a request to interview a district administrator Friday. It also did not provide more details about which campuses are impacted in which parts of the city, how significant some of the damages are, or when the impacted schools were expected to reopen.

All HISD campuses have been closed throughout the week, and the district also suspended its summer meals program.

"We are working diligently to address these issues and ensure the safety and well-being of our students and staff," HISD said in a statement. "Our facilities and IT teams have been working around the clock this week to get campuses back online to serve summer school students next week, and then begin preparations for the 2024-25 school year."