HOUSTON — As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to hundreds of thousands after deadly storms left at least seven people dead, it will do so amid a smog warning and rising temperatures that could pose health risks.

National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard said on Saturday that highs of about 90 degrees were expected through the start of the coming week, with heat indexes likely approaching 100 degrees by midweek.

“We expect the impact of the heat to gradually increase … we will start to see that heat risk increase Tuesday into Wednesday through Friday,” Chenard said.

The heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when humidity is combined with the air temperature, according to the weather service.

“Don’t overdo yourself during the cleanup process,” the weather service’s Houston office said in a post on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Houston Health Department said it would distribute 400 free portable air conditioners to area seniors, people with disabilities and caregivers of disabled children to contend with the heat.

Five cooling centers also were opened — four in Houston and one in Kingwood.

The widespread destruction of Thursday’s storms brought much of Houston to a standstill. Thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds tore through the city, and a tornado touched down near the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress.

More than a half-million homes and businesses in Texas remained without electricity by midday Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us. Another 21,000 customers were also without power in Louisiana, where strong winds and a suspected tornado hit.

CenterPoint Energy, which has deployed 1,000 employees to the area and is requesting 5,000 more, said power restoration could take several days or longer in some areas, and that customers need to ensure their homes can safely be reconnected.

“In addition to damaging CenterPoint Energy’s electric infrastructure and equipment, severe weather may have caused damage to customer-owned equipment” such as the weatherhead, which is where power enters the home, the company said.

High-voltage transmission towers that were torn apart and downed power lines pose a twofold challenge for utility companies because the damage affected transmission and distribution systems, according to Alexandria von Meier, a power and energy expert who called that a rare thing. Damage to just the distribution system is more typical, von Meier said.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported late Friday that three people died during the storm, including an 85-year-old woman whose home caught fire after being struck by lightning and a 60-year-old man who had tried to use his vehicle to power his oxygen tank.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire previously said at least four other people were killed in the city when the storms swept through Harris County, which includes Houston.

School districts in the Houston area canceled classes Friday for more than 400,000 students and government offices were closed.

Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said Saturday that he hoped to reopen schools on Monday, but that is dependent upon the restoration of electricity in school buildings.

In light of the storm damage, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Whitmire both signed disaster declarations, paving the way for state and federal storm recovery assistance.

A separate disaster declaration from President Joe Biden makes federal funding available to people in seven Texas counties that have been affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding since April 26.

Information for this article was contributed by Jamie Stengle, Valerie Gonzalez and Lisa Baumann of The Associated Press.

    Power transmission lines were twisted and toppled after powerful storms swept through the Houston area on Saturday, May 18, 2024 in Cypress, Texas. As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to hundreds of thousands, it will do so amid a smog warning and rising Texas heat. (AP photo/Mark Vancleave)
  

    The wall of a tire shop at the intersection of Sowden and Bingle is blown out in the aftermath of a severe storm on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. The widespread destruction brought much of Houston to a standstill as crews raced to restore power and remove uprooted trees and debris. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
  

    Fans make their way into Minute Maid Park as a severe thunderstorm hit before a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
  

    Down power lines are shown in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Cypress, Texas, near Houston. Thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
  

    Cheryl Herpich takes a photograph of a downtown building with blown out windows in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
  

    Blown out windows on a high-rise downtown building are shown in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
  

    Blown out windows on a high-rise downtown building are shown in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Friday, May 17, 2024, in Houston. Thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
  

    Carrie Jenkins stands in her living room by the light of her open front door, the only light in her home since losing power the night before in the aftermath of a severe storm, Friday, May 17, 2024 in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
  

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Arkansas baseball team will play either Alabama or South Carolina first at the SEC Tournament next week in Hoover, Ala. 

The Razorbacks (43-12) are the No. 2 seed at the tournament by virtue of winning the SEC West. They will play the second quarterfinal game Wednesday at approximately 1 p.m. 

The Crimson Tide and the Gamecocks will play a single-elimination game Tuesday at approximately 1 p.m.

Alabama (33-21) is the No. 7 seed after tiebreakers with four other teams that finished with an SEC record of 13-17. South Carolina (33-21) was also included in the tiebreaker and is the No. 10 seed.

The Crimson Tide were the highest seeded of the five teams that were tied in the standings. That was because Alabama was the only team to win a series against the highest-seeded common opponent, top-seeded Tennessee. 

South Carolina earned the No. 10 seed over LSU due to results against Arkansas. The Gamecocks went 1-2 against the Razorbacks on April 19-20, while Arkansas swept LSU in March. 

The Razorbacks defeated South Carolina 2-1 in the series opener in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks won 6-3 in the first game of an April 20 doubleheader and Arkansas won the finale 9-6.

Alabama lost 5-3 to the Razorbacks in the series opener. The Crimson Tide won the final two games of the series by scores of 4-3 in 10 innings and 5-0. That series was played in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on April 12-14.

The Arkansas-Alabama-South Carolina grouping will be paired against a grouping of Kentucky-Georgia-LSU in the quarterfinal round. 

The Razorbacks will play at least two games in Hoover. The quarterfinals are a double-elimination round that are scheduled Wednesday through Friday. 

The semifinal and final rounds revert to a single-elimination format. 

SEC Tournament Schedule

Tuesday (First Round)

Game 1: No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 11 LSU

Game 2: No. 7 Alabama vs. No. 10 South Carolina

Game 3: No. 8 Vanderbilt vs. No. 9 Florida

Game 4: No. 5 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Ole Miss

Wednesday (Quarterfinals)

Game 5: No. 3 Kentucky vs. Game 1 Winner

Game 6: No. 2 Arkansas vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 7: No. 1 Tennessee vs. Game 3 Winner

Game 8: No. 4 Texas A&M vs. Game 4 Winner

Thursday (Quarterfinals)

Game 9: Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser

Game 10: Game 7 Loser vs. Game 8 Loser

Game 11: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 12: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

Friday (Quarterfinals)

Game 13: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser

Game 14: Game 10 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser

Saturday (Semifinals)

Game 15: Game 13 Winner vs. Game 11 Winner

Game 16: Game 14 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner

Sunday (Championship)

Game 17: Game 15 Winner vs. Game 16 Winner

It was a roller-coaster weekend for Arkansas baseball as a win that clinched the SEC West title was sandwiched between one tight and one blowout defeat against Texas A&M.

The No. 2 Razorbacks (43-12, 20-10 SEC) dropped two-of-three games against the No. 4 Aggies (44-11, 19-11) to close the regular season. Arkansas had a chance to win the series entering Saturday’s rubber match, but Texas A&M handed the Hogs their first run-rule defeat of the season, instead.

All eyes now shift toward the postseason, with Arkansas opening its SEC Tournament Wednesday night as the No. 2 seed. The Hogs will receive a first-round bye thanks to their top-four finish in the league.

Here are four observations from the Razorbacks’ series loss to Texas A&M.

Mission accomplished for Arkansas baseball

The 14-4 loss Saturday will sting, and Arkansas will be disappointed to have wasted a record-breaking start from Hagen Smith in the opener, but the only objective this weekend was to win the SEC West. The Hogs did just that with a 6-3 win Friday night.

More: Arkansas baseball clinches SEC West title with win over Texas A&M

More: Arkansas baseball bracketology: Where Hogs stand in 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket projections

“There are a lot of teams who haven’t been able to do that and we’ve done it five of the last six years,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “Came in second the year we didn’t do it. Just kind of let it go that last weekend a couple, three years ago, and it feels good.”

Gage Wood makes case to remain in weekend rotation

Changing the weekend rotation for the final conference series of the season — on the road against a consensus top-five team in the country — turned out to be a well-worked gamble from Van Horn.

Wood made the first SEC start of his career Friday and limited the Aggies to two earned runs across five innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk a single batter after Van Horn removed Brady Tygart and Mason Molina for losing their control in back-to-back starts building up to this weekend.

Tygart didn’t pitch against Texas A&M, but Molina did, thrusted into the Friday night fire of a 3-3 tie with a runner on first and no outs in the bottom of the seventh. Molina got out of the jam and recorded the final nine outs of the win. He could jump back into the weekend rotation as soon as the SEC Tournament.

Hudson White continues late-season surge

White won the division for Arkansas in game two, crushing a hanging slider and giving Arkansas its first lead of the weekend with a three-run homer to left in the top of the eighth. He hit another home run Saturday and finished the weekend 4-for-10 with four RBIs and three runs.

Two weeks ago, White could sense his season changing with Arkansas on the road against Kentucky. He entered that series hitting just .243, but he’s gone 14-for-32 since then with four home runs and 13 RBIs. The Texas Tech transfer is now hitting NUMBER.

“It’s been awesome,” White said Friday night. “Just been trying to stick to my plan and stick to my routine. Just trying to help the team keep stacking up wins.”

There might also be another bat getting hot at the right time. Wehiwa Aloy hit a pair of home runs this weekend to up his team-high on the season to 13.

What does Arkansas do with Will McEntire and Kendall Diggs?

It was not a fun weekend for McEntire. He faced one batter out of the bullpen Thursday night and walked in the game-winning run. He then got his first start of the season Saturday and gave up a pair of two-run homers with the Aggies striking for four runs in 1 1/3 innings.

McEntire has now given up 17 earned runs in his last 11 appearances. With a 10.60 ERA during that stretch, McEntire’s season mark has dropped from 1.75 to 4.29.

Diggs, meanwhile, went 0-for-7 at the plate and simply can’t get out of this slump that’s now stretched across two months

How much longer are the leashes for both players? There is no obvious replacement for Diggs in right field, but it’s going to be hard for Van Horn to trust McEntire in the postseason with his current form.