CenterPoint Energy Gears Up for Hurricane Season
With hurricane season set to start on June 1, CenterPoint Energy urges customers to have an emergency plan, especially if they depend on electricity for life-sustaining equipment. As a part of CenterPoint Energy’s commitment to restore services as quickly and safely as possible following a severe weather event, the company has an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). CenterPoint Energy’s employees, across all areas, are called upon to support the company’s EOP.
“Hurricanes are inevitable, but we can minimize the damages by having an effective plan in place,” said Randy Pryor, vice president of Distribution Operations for CenterPoint Energy. “Based on the severity of the event, customers should be prepared for outages and have resources in place to be without power for at least two weeks or possibly more.”
CenterPoint Energy recommends that customers be prepared to be without service according to the following guidelines:
| HURRICANE | WIND SPEED | ESTIMATED OUTAGE* |
| CATEGORY 1 | winds 74-95 mph | 7 to 10 days |
| CATEGORY 2 | winds 96-110 mph | 2 to 3 weeks |
| CATEGORY 3 | winds 111-130 mph | 3 to 5 weeks |
| CATEGORY 4 | winds 131-155 mph | 4 to 6 weeks |
| CATEGORY 5 | winds 156 mph and up | 6 to 8 weeks |
*Individual restoration times will vary.
Beginning this year, CenterPoint Energy will utilize vehicles with enhanced technology and communications functionalities to support its response. These vehicles and equipment will aid the restoration efforts by allowing our Incident Command Teams to manage the event locally within impacted areas.
“With these resources, we can focus on restoring our electrical transmission and distribution system safely and effectively, while also connecting with communities that have been impacted,” said Pierce Prater, CenterPoint Energy service area manager. “CenterPoint Energy will also utilize drones and helicopters to assess damage and help expedite restoration efforts.”
For the latest information on power outages:
- Sign up for Power Alert Service for information on individual outages;
- Follow @cnpalerts; and
- Visit Outage Tracker for general outage locations.
No two storms are alike and, as was the case with Hurricane Harvey, flooding can have a significant impact on natural gas operations. For information on natural gas safety, electric safety and other resources, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter.
CenterPoint Energy’s mobile command vehicle to serve as on-site command center
Mobile command vehicle used for natural gas operations restoration
40′ Lonestar Command Center Motorcoach, the 44′ Command Center Trailer, and the Ford Transit Emergency Response Outreach Van at the Centerpoint emergency training drill