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In Houston, the loss of power amidst a punishing summer heat has led to a significant number of heat-related deaths. Janet Jarrett, who lost her sister Pamela to the sweltering temperatures after four days without electricity, recounted her ordeal. "It’s so hard to know that she’s gone right now because this wasn’t supposed to happen to her," Jarrett told the Texas Tribune.
The rising death toll currently stands at 23 in relation to Hurricane Beryl in Texas, with expectancies that this figure will increase. Houston's Harris County has reported that half of these deaths were a result of the heat. While power has been largely restored, the slow response of the region's electric provider, CenterPoint Energy, has triggered a debate on the preparedness of such infrastructures.
Hospitals observed a surge in heat-related illnesses during this period, typifying the strain on emergency services. The precarious conditions were exacerbated by the Category 1 storm's impact, which initially left nearly 3 million homes and businesses without power. Some outages lasted several days, subjecting many residents to intolerable living conditions.
Efforts to calculate the complete death toll are underway, but it's a complex task. Lara Anton, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, indicated they may have a preliminary death count by the end of July. "In the state's vital statistics system, there is a prompt to indicate if the death was storm related and medical certifiers are asked to send additional information on how the death was related to the storm," Anton said, per the Texas Tribune.
Dr. Lynn Goldman, of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, supports an analysis of excess deaths to capture the broader impact, which may include overlooked fatalities. This analysis will aid in contrasting the number of deaths during the crisis against a baseline of expected mortality under normal conditions.
