Houston power outages persist amid sweltering heat

Some residents forced to wait until Wednesday for lights and air conditioning to be restored after major storm in US south

Houston in Texas is still grappling with the effects of a massive storm that swept through the US south last week, including widespread power outages that have persisted for days in increasingly hotter weather.

More than 200,000 Houstonians have been without power, and thus air conditioning, for more than four days already, and may have to wait even longer since CenterPoint Energy, the utility company which primarily services the city, has failed to restore power in many parts. Although more than 75% of residents have had their power turned back on, many will still have to wait until at least Wednesday.