Apocalyptic scenes in Texas as monster storms rip through Lone Star state, killing at least four and leaving 1million without power

Devastating storms continue to rip through Texas as at least four people have died and almost one million residents are left without power. 

Severe thunderstorms descended upon Houston on Thursday - with winds as high as 78 miles per hour causing apocalyptic scenes across southeastern Texas.

The subsequent power outages could last weeks in parts of Houston, an official warned Friday, after the hurricane-force winds tore through the city.

Raging storms knocked out electricity for almost a million homes and businesses in the region and caused chaos by knocking out windows and flipping vehicles. 

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county's top elected official, said crews were still trying to determine the extent of the damage and the number of casualties.

A car sits under fallen bricks in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston

Blown out windows on a high-rise downtown building are shown in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17

Houston Mayor John Whitmire said four, and possibly five, people were killed after the storms swept through the county, which includes Houston, on Thursday.

'It was fierce. It was intense. It was quick, and most Houstonians didn´t have time to place themselves out of harms way,' Whitmire said at a news conference.

With multiple transmission towers down, Hidalgo urged patience. Thousands of utility workers were headed to the area, where power had already been restored to roughly 200,000 customers. Another 100,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, down from a peak of 215,000.

'We are going to have to talk about this disaster in weeks, not days,' Hidalgo said.

She said she had heard 'horror stories of just terror and powerlessness' as the storm came through.

The widespread destruction brought much of Houston to a standstill. Trees, debris and shattered glass littered the streets. 

Rapper Trae tha Truth, in yellow, cuts fallen tree limbs on top of a car in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm that passed through downtown on Thursday

School districts in the Houston area canceled classes for more than 400,000 students and government offices were closed. 

City officials urged people avoid downtown and stay off roads, many of which were flooded or lined with downed power lines and malfunctioning traffic lights.

Whitmire said at least 2,500 traffic lights were out, and he warned would-be looters that 'police are out in force, including 50 state troopers sent to the area to prevent looting.'

At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees and another happened when a crane blew over in strong winds, officials said.

The problems extended to the city´s suburbs, with emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County describing the damage to transmission lines as 'catastrophic.'

Broken glass covers a downtown street in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston

A man walks over fallen bricks from a damaged building in the chaotic scenes caused by the raging thunderstorm

The storms also weren't over Friday. Gulf Coast states could experience scattered, severe thunderstorms with tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds. 

Heavy to excessive rainfall is possible for eastern Louisiana into central Alabama, the National Weather Service said. Flood watches and warnings remained Friday for Houston and areas to the east.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Evans said the agency had not yet confirmed any tornadoes touching down in and around Houston and Harris County.

'The majority of this damage is straight line winds,' which he said could have reached up to 100 mph (160 kph).

Debris sits in front of a building under construction that collapsed during last night's storm on Memorial Heights Drive

Ada Duarte takes to go orders using only the light of her phone after losing power at Anita's Honduras Restaurant on Sowden Road in the aftermath of the thunderstorm 

The Storm Prediction Center´s website showed a report of a tornado in Convent, Louisiana, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) from New Orleans, with multiple reports of trees and power poles down.

A suspected tornado hit the Romeville area of St. James Parish on Thursday night with some homes impacted and trees down, but no injuries or fatalities had been reported, parish officials said in a social media post on Friday morning.

The office for New Orleans and Baton Rouge issued a flash flood warning through Saturday.

Residents of Houston were left to clear up the rubble caused by the severe storms that tore through the area on Thursday 

A man stands on his balcony near a fallen tree in the aftermath of a severe storm

Heavy storms slammed the Houston area during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.

Shocking videos coming out of Houston show the devastation brought by swirling 100mph winds, blasting out high-rise windows and delivering untold damage to inner city infrastructure, with power offline for some nine hundred thousand people.

A Houston police officer walks back to his vehicle after clearing people away from a damaged tire shop at the intersection of Sowden and Bingle

A U.S. Postal Service truck is flipped on its side at the intersection of Bingle and Sowden in Houston

Footage circulating online shows a sheets of water flailing in the wind as trees are battered by the gale and pedestrians in the city rendered unable to shield themselves from the deluge.

Buildings are seen to have had entire walls stripped in the storms, with one car pictured crushed under the weight of bricks from a falling wall in the city.