HOUSTON — Downed power lines across Houston in the wake of Beryl have a lot of people concerned about what will happen when the power comes back on.
Many have called KHOU 11 News to let us know that they're sparking fires.
They're calling 911 and the fire department to report the downed lines, but unless there's an active fire, they can't do anything about it.
If wires are down in your area, you need to call CenterPoint at 713-207-2222.
Even after calling to report downed lines, some people told us that they were not coming out fast enough.
A family of eight in Acres Homes still can't believe their house is gone. In a matter of minutes, they said, they lost it all.
"It's very difficult. This is a family home. Been here for years," Syria Brightmon said.
The family thinks the fire started when a vacant home two houses down was dealing with downed lines.
"Her powerlines was on fire and she had called 911," Brightmon said.
They said CenterPoint came out and shut the power down to the vacant home. But, as the crew left, their home went up in flames.
"We were ... going back inside," Brightmon said. "I see smoke. It's because of the wires."
They think the fire that burned their house down was caused by the downed wires.
"When they put whatever happened at her house, it came straight to ours," Brightmon said.
The family set up a GoFundMe account to help recover.
The Houston Fire Department said the cause of the fire is still under investigation and they're not sure what caused the house to go up in flames. They did say they responded to calls at both houses on the street.
CenterPoint hasn't responded to requests for a comment but they did say that people need to stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines.
Viewers across the city have reached out with concerns about the live wires sparking when the power is turned back on.
In a neighborhood in Braeswood, residents said a power pole was leaning and lines were down in their backyard, causing their trees to catch on fire.
"We are lucky that the tree was wet because wet wood doesn't burn quickly," Elise Cohen said.
They said they understand that CenterPoint is overwhelmed, but feel things could be done better.
"It's incredibly frustrating to know that things can be done better. There could be better processes in place," Cohen said.