Austin officials report one death, ongoing power outages and multi‑agency recovery after severe overnight storm

City of Austin officials said one person died and crews from multiple city and county agencies were continuing recovery operations after a severe, fast-moving storm struck the city overnight, producing large hail, high winds and 2 to 3 inches of rain in minutes.

City Administrator Tizzy Brognas opened a multilingual press conference, saying officials were “grateful” to first responders and noting the storm caused flooding, property damage, downed trees and power outages. He said, “We tragically had one loss of life,” and offered condolences to the family.

Emergency Management Director Jim Rarick said the storm brought intense, short-duration rainfall and high winds. Officials reported hundreds of water rescues and rapid increases in 911 calls beginning around 6:45 p.m. the previous night. Rarick said city crews and mutual‑aid utility crews worked through the night and into the next day to address hazards and restore services.

Stewart Reilly, interim general manager of Austin Energy, described the outage picture and restoration plan. He said the storm left tens of thousands of customers without power at its peak—officials gave a peak figure of about 72,500—then reported that crews had restored roughly 93% of customers by midmorning, with about 38,000 customers still without service. Reilly cautioned that final restoration would take days in some locations because crews had identified more than 100 broken utility poles and some downed lines required intensive, staged work.

Officials urged residents to avoid downed power lines and debris and to obey road barricades. Reilly said, “Never drive around barricades or into flooded areas.” Austin Energy asked residents to report outages and downed lines using the methods publicized by the utility during the briefing: call the city line reported in the press conference for downed lines and send the text message OUT to the outage shortcode officials provided. The press conference also advised residents who need shelter to contact the Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS.

Austin Resource Recovery director Richard Maquelle said crews were cataloguing and removing debris across neighborhoods north of the Colorado River and east of MoPac. He said large limbs could be placed at the curb for pickup where safe and small limbs could go in compost bins; customers with very large tree debris were asked to call 311. Maquelle said the city had suspended collection fees given the circumstances.

John Vici of Watershed Protection said storm runoff raised localized drainage flows and urged residents not to dump yard waste into creeks, channels or drains. He directed people to call 311 to report flooding or blocked drainage and to check the city’s traffic and road‑closure pages for real‑time information.

Robert Lucrecia of Travis County emergency medical services and Austin Fire Department interim chief Andrey de la Reza described the rescue response. Officials said crews responded to dozens of water rescues and roughly 100 medical calls linked to the storm; most rescued people were transported and treated. One rescue resulted in a fatality; officials said the person was found submerged and could not be revived on scene. The agencies reiterated the safety message to avoid floodwater and to call 911 for life‑threatening emergencies.

David Gray from the city’s Office of Homelessness said outreach teams checked known encampments and coordinated offers of shelter; officials said there were no reports of large numbers of people experiencing harm in encampments during the storm.

Officials said utility and public works crews from neighboring jurisdictions were providing mutual aid, with additional crews arriving to help repair poles, clear trees and reopen roads. City leaders said assessments were ongoing and that residents should document damage with photos for insurance claims, watch official Austin channels for updates and be on guard for potential fraudsters offering unsolicited repairs.

The city asked residents to follow official Austin and Austin Energy social channels for restoration updates, to call 311 for nonemergency reports, and to call 911 for immediate life‑safety needs. Officials said recovery operations would continue for days in the hardest-hit neighborhoods.