Record-breaking Houston storm causes widespread damage and power outages.

The storm that hit Houston on Wednesday night brought locally record-breaking winds, with wind gusts of 97 mph reported at Bush Intercontinental Airport, greatly eclipsing the previous record for strongest wind speeds, recorded during Hurricane Ike in 2008. Hundreds of thousands of Texans were left without power. The strength of wind gusts is measured about 10 meters above the ground because wind speed tends to decrease closer to the ground, due to friction. The National Weather Service said the wind strength was at a level more often associated with mild tornadoes.