More storms slow power restoration in North Texas

Oncor says another round of storms overnight Thursday into Friday morning led to more power outages that slowed an already complicated restoration effort that had been underway since last weekend.

On Wednesday, Oncor said they hoped to have most of the power restored in North Texas by Friday with some of the harder-hit areas not being brought back online until Saturday. After storms overnight Thursday took down power lines, Oncor said Friday morning that crews still hoped to restore power to most of those without electricity by Friday night but that they'll be working through the weekend to return service to the harder-hit areas.

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"With heavy rain, wind and lightning, such as what hit Thursday and early today, our teams must take additional safety precautions which has slowed restoration," Oncor said. "Heavy rain that leads to flooding also creates difficulty accessing areas where repairs are needed."

Oncor said about 12,000 personnel, including Oncor employees, contractors, and partners, continue working around the clock to help restore power to customers across North Texas.

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Storms earlier this week knocked out power to more than 650,000 customers in north central and eastern Texas, Oncor said, adding that they've restored power to all but about 50,000 of them.

Among them Friday were those in Dallas's hard-hit Eastwood Hills neighborhood.

"The first couple of days I was ok. Yesterday, by the end of the day I was kind of angry and just sort of grumpy about it. But what are you going to do?" said Britt Lopez.

There, downed trees took out multiple lines.

Four days in, the road and some driveways remain impassable.

Lopez says she’s resorted to using a generator while keeping watch for line crews to finally arrive.

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

Nearby in Mesquite, Jimmy Hughes says he’s also frustrated by a lack of information about the cause of his outage and how much longer they’ll be clearing debris without the relief of air conditioning.

He worries most about his 86-year-old mom.

“I have an attitude of gratitude, so I can lift her, but I don’t want her being in the heat. So right now we’re in the conversation of, do I need to take her to my sister’s house, you know, to be in the cool air and everything because she won’t say how she’s feeling 100%,” he said.

ARE YOU STILL WITHOUT POWER?

If you're still without power, Oncor asked customers to examine their equipment, including the meter and Weatherhead, to make sure they didn't appear damaged or removed. If so, an electrician will need to make repairs and a city inspection could be required before power can be safely restored.

Oncor reminds everyone to stay away from downed power lines, especially those who are in an area where there are downed trees or limbs. Customers are urged to keep themselves and pets out of harm's way and to call 911 immediately. If the line is energized, anything touching the line, including a fence or tree branch, could also be energized.