More storms delay power restoration in North Texas – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

According to Oncor, new storms on Thursday night into Friday morning led to even more power outages, delaying the already complicated restoration efforts that had been underway since last weekend.

On Wednesday Oncor said that they hopes most power will be restored to North Texas by Friday with some of the hardest-hit areas not due back online until Saturday. After storms downed power lines Thursday night, Oncor said Friday morning that crews still hoped to restore power to most people without electricity by Friday night, but that they would work through the weekend to restore power to the hardest-hit areas.

“With heavy rain, wind and lightning, such as Thursday and early today, our crews are having to take extra safety precautions, which has slowed the restoration,” Oncor said. “Heavy rains that lead to flooding also make it difficult to reach areas where repairs are needed.”

According to Oncor, approximately 12,000 people, including Oncor employees, contractors and partners, are working around the clock to restore power to customers in North Texas.

Storms earlier this week knocked out power to more than 650,000 customers in northcentral and eastern Texas, Oncor said. Power has been restored to all but about 50,000 customers.

On Friday, victims in the hard-hit Eastwood Hills neighborhood of Dallas were among them.

“The first couple of days were good. Yesterday, at the end of the day, I was a little angry and a little grumpy about it. But what are you going to do?” said Britt Lopez.

There, fallen trees caused several lines to disappear.

After four days, the road and some driveways are still impassable.

Lopez says she's using a generator while she waits for crews to finally arrive.

“Honestly, I feel a little left out and forgotten here because if we had seen Oncor trucks or if we had seen people actively reviewing here or something, it would have at least felt like they knew what was going on,” she said.

Jimmy Hughes, who lives in Mesquite, said he too is frustrated by the lack of information about what caused the outage and how long they will be clearing debris without the air conditioning coming back on.

He is most concerned about his 86-year-old mother.

“I have an attitude of gratitude, so I can pick her up, but I don't want her to be in the heat. So now we're in the conversation of, should I take her to my sister's house, you know, to be in the cool air and stuff, because she doesn't want to say 100 percent how she feels,” he said.

STILL NO POWER?

If you still don’t have power, Oncor asked customers to check their equipment, including the meter and Weatherhead, to make sure it doesn’t appear damaged or removed. If so, an electrician will need to make repairs and a city inspection may be required before power can be safely restored.

Oncor is reminding everyone to stay away from downed power lines, especially those in areas with downed trees or branches. Customers are urged to keep themselves and their pets away and to call 911 immediately. If the line is live, anything touching the line, including a fence or tree branch, could also become live.

HOW DO YOU REPORT A POWER OUTAGE?

To report a power outage or check the status of an outage, download the MyOncor app, text OUT to 66267, or call 888-313-4747.