At least four people died last night as powerful storms blew out skyscraper windows in downtown Houston, snapped trees and knocked out power to more than 800,000 customers in Harris County.

Why it matters: The fast-moving storms with straight-line winds and heavy rainfall gave the region little time to prepare.

• Fallen trees caused at least two of the fatalities per initial indications, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said at a news conference late yesterday.

What they're saying: "We had a storm with 100 mph winds, the equivalent of Hurricane Ike," said Mayor John Whitmire at the news conference where he urged people to stay home Friday morning if they're not essential workers.

Between the lines: The straight-line winds were caused by a surge of rain-cooled air descending toward the surface and spreading out at high speeds near the leading edge of the storm.

The latest: As of 6am, more than 700,000 customers were out of power in Harris County.

• Most of the traffic lights across the city were damaged and down yesterday evening, per Whitmire.
• School districts, including Houston, Cy-Fair, Spring Branch and Channelview, announced all schools would be closed today.

State of play: The National Weather Service's Houston office said on X late yesterday that people should avoid downtown due to widespread debris, glass and electrical lines scattered in the streets.

What we're watching: With power lines down, outages could last another 24 to 48 hours — and the region faces hot conditions with forecasts of highs in the mid-90s through the weekend.

Go deeper

Racial segregation in schools across the country has increased dramatically over the last three decades, according to two new reports and an Axios review of federal data.

Why it matters: As the U.S. marks the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling today, American public schools are growing more separate and unequal even though the country is more racially and ethnically diverse than ever.

What they did: Analyzing data from U.S. public schools going back to 1967, a Stanford University and University of Southern California study found that segregation between white and Black students has increased by 64% since 1988 in the 100 largest districts.

The intrigue: Houston ISD schools have become slightly more segregated over the past three decades, per the analysis.

• The district has a segregation rating of 0.47 for Black and white students and 0.34 for Hispanic and white students. The rating measures segregation by exposure of students of different races and ethnicities, with 0 being the least segregated and 1 being the most segregated.

In 1991, the measure was 0.44 for Black and white students and 0.32 for Hispanic and white students.

Zoom in: Westbury High School, in southwest Houston, was a model of integration in 1991: 30.8% white, 43.5% Black and 17.9% Hispanic.

• By 2022, it was 1.6% white, 28.8% Black and 67.2% Hispanic.

Zoom out: Texas is among the states with the largest growth in intensely segregated schools, defined as schools with 90%-100% nonwhite students.

The big picture

Days before the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, another landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision granted Mexican Americans in Texas the right to serve on a jury — and opened doors to more civil rights battles.

Why it matters: The Hernandez v. Texas ruling in May 1954 affirmed that Mexican Americans were protected under the 14th Amendment and couldn't be excluded from jury duty under Jim Crow laws and practices in Texas.

Flashback: Attorneys John J. Herrera of Houston and Gus Garcia of San Antonio sought to use an alleged murder in Jackson County, Texas, in 1951 as a test case to challenge racist jury policies in Texas.

• They represented Peter Hernandez, a Mexican American cotton picker accused of fatally shooting another man.
• Jackson County labeled Mexican Americans as white, and the county's leaders argued that having an all-white, non-Hispanic jury wasn't discrimination.
• Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison. No Mexican Americans served on the jury.

But the case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• On May 3, 1954, the court unanimously ruled that the 14th Amendment protects those beyond the members of the "two class theory" and that Mexican Americans were a "special class," even though they were "white."

The big picture: Garcia and Herrera built the foundation for future civil rights battles, such as housing discrimination and voting rights.

🏳️‍⚧️ State Rep. Shawn Thierry, a Democratic incumbent in a heated primary runoff, likened trans health care to genocide. (Houston Chronicle)

🏛️ A Houston man pleaded guilty to murdering a transgender woman in east Houston in 2022. (KHOU)

Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry, the man convicted in the 2020 killing of a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin. (Axios)

Upcoming events around the city.

Houston Business Expo at Norris Conference Center on May 22:

Network with more than 1,000 business owners and decision makers. You will want to arrive early and bring a co-worker or friend and at least 50 business cards. Get ready to grow your network and grow your business. $0-$1,000.

Hosting an event? Email [email protected].

Our Axios Texas social host Greg Castillo took a trip to Central Market (otherwise known as Gucci B) in search of the store's most expensive item.

Here's what he found:

• A $16 mango that was air-freighted in from Vietnam.
• A $1,850 bottle of wine.
• An $82 jar of honey with truffle.

Watch on Instagram to see the bright periwinkle tea that costs $337 per pound.

📧 Tell us: What's your favorite item at Central Market, and is it bougie enough to be one of the most expensive?

• Hit reply to help Greg on his quest.