HOUSTON – With hurricane season in full effect, a new survey from the University of Houston is shedding light on concerns Harris County residents have about severe weather.
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As a lifelong Houston resident, flood damage might seem like the most common worry, but according to the Hobby School of Public Affairs, those concerns appear to have shifted.
Nearly 7 in 10 registered Harris County voters (69%) are very or moderately worried about their homes being without power for more than a day this summer, compared to 54% who are concerned about high wind damage, and 44% worried about flooding.
Recent events like Hurricane Beryl and the Derecho storm likely influenced this shift in concern.
About 63% of surveyed residents have an unfavorable opinion of CenterPoint Energy, the county’s electricity provider. Despite promises to improve, only 7% believe the energy giant has made a great deal of progress in hardening the electrical grid in Harris County.
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CenterPoint Energy shared the following statement responding to the survey results:
“We understand that trust is built through transparency, accountability, and meaningful action — especially in a region as vital and storm-prone as Greater Houston. Last summer, we heard the calls for change and immediately took action by launching the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), a historic effort to strengthen our system resiliency, improve our storm response and better communicate with our 2.8 million customers. CenterPoint Energy hears the concerns of the community and takes them seriously.
“Since GHRI’s launch, CenterPoint has:
- Installed or replaced more than 32,000 stronger, storm-resilient poles built to withstand extreme winds;
- Undergrounded over 400 miles of power lines to reduce exposure to severe weather;
- Deployed more than 5,150 automated reliability and intelligent grid switching devices to minimize outages and speed restoration;
- Cleared over 7,000 miles of higher-risk vegetation near power lines to prevent storm-related disruptions;
- Installed more than 100 weather stations to enhance situational awareness and storm preparation;
- Launched a new, cloud-based Outage Tracker that provides real-time updates in both English and Spanish.
- 17,000 hours of emergency response training by nearly 1,000 CenterPoint employees.
“These actions are part of a long-term strategy to build a smarter, stronger, and more resilient grid. While we acknowledge that there is more work to be done, CenterPoint Energy remains deeply committed to serving our customers and earning their trust every day. They are also producing real results. In the first half of 2025, outage minutes have dropped by approximately 45% compared to the same time period in 2024. That’s about 20 million less outages minutes a month.
“Our dedicated CenterPoint team remains determined to deliver the safe, reliable and resilient service our customers and communities depend on.”
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Depending on who you ask, flooding remains a significant concern among certain groups.
“53% of Latino and 51% of Black registered voters are either very worried or moderately worried about their home being flooded this summer, compared to 34% of White registered voters,” the survey report states.
Younger voters aged 18 to 34 also show greater concern about flooding compared to those 55 and older, as do Democrats and Independents relative to their Republican counterparts.
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These findings offer a glimpse into the evolving risks Harris County residents face as weather patterns intensify.
For a complete look at the survey results by the Hobby School, see below: