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Hurricane Beryl struck Houston, Texas on Monday, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and otherwise disruptive weather. Businesses, schools, and other establishments throughout the community shut down, hoping for the best as the storm passed through.

2.8 million Houstonians (along with residents of surrounding areas Humble, Kingwood, Spring, etc.) rely upon CenterPoint Energy for power. Heavy winds knocked out power and even cell service in certain parts of the Greater Houston region.

48 hours after Beryl, north of 914,000 CenterPoint Energy customers since regained power. Though north of two million individuals are still without it.

Compounding the issue is a lack of local residents with backup generators or the gas to fuel them. As of Tuesday, various communities across Greater Houston saw long lines of people waiting outside of different gas stations.

As all this plays out, CenterPoint Energy remains under fire from millions of Houstonians who are eager to have their power and internet access again. Some are also complaining about downed cell phone service and towers in the aftermath of the storm.

CenterPoint Energy in the hot seat

On Facebook, X, and Instagram, incensed Houstonians are giving CenterPoint Energy a piece of their mind. Many feel angry with the provider for not just a lack of restored power, but also an apparent absence of real-time updates.

Some of these folks note that while smaller power providers like Entergy are sharing live developments and a timeline for repairs, CenterPoint Energy's outage tracker remains nonfunctional. This led to some Houstonians using the Whataburger app for insight on power updates.

Another common criticism is that CenterPoint Energy did not prepare ahead of Hurricane Beryl. Greater Houston residents argue the company should have sent out staff ahead of the storm to expedite power restoration efforts, especially given Texas' high heat during this season.

On social media, CenterPoint now faces accusations of the following:

• Lack of communication with customers
• Above-ground power lines that are vulnerable to fallen trees
• Perceived lack of trucks in certain neighborhoods
• Failure to restore enough customers' power more than two days after Beryl's passing

Earlier today, the Houston Chronicle also ran an opinion piece focusing on CenterPoint Energy's response to the storm. This article zeroes in on the company for not "adequately preparing" despite knowing the hurricane would impact Greater Houston.

Across Facebook, X, and Instagram, some of the angriest comments directed towards CenterPoint Energy read as follows:

"I haven't seen one [center point] or energy truck out in my area. Not one!"

"Why are you sending texts and emails to people saying their power is restored when that is completely false????"

"Monopolized pointless service[,] at this point."

Response to the backlash

CenterPoint Energy has been forced to answer to a growing amount of people who see their response to Hurricane Beryl as less than optimal. On Wednesday afternoon, the company's vice president of regulatory affairs, Brad Tutunjian, spoke out.

According to Tutunjian, CenterPoint ushered in what it perceived as a "good amount of resources." Stressing the unpredictable nature of this hurricane, the company's vice president also said the damage has to undergo certain assessments before requesting crew service.

Other Texans feel the backlash against CenterPoint Energy isn't completely warranted. Folks of this view maintain that Houston residents should purchase generators (and gas) ahead of time. This will give their homes power in the event of outages from storms.

Across Houston and surrounding cities, governments have set up cooling and charging centers, along with distribution sites for water and ice. Many businesses are also offering people spaces to shower and purchase food.