Published: Jun. 2, 2024 at 12:32 PM CDT
EAST TEXAS (KLTV) - Many in East Texas are without power after storms have knocked down trees and damaged lines in several counties. The following list gives updates organized according to your provider.
Despite the long outages, companies like Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative remind homeowners not to attempt to restore power on their own. The coop says doing so is incredibly dangerous and poses a huge risk to line crews at work. Crews are in constant communication with system operators with rigorous protocols to ensure that power is only restored when it is safe to do so. Attempting to circumvent this system can result in death, property damage and potential criminal liability.
Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative reports 10,700 households without power in Shelby County (90% of their coverage), 6,400 in Nacogdoches County, 4,600 in San Augustine County, 3,600 in Sabine County and 1,300 in Panola County as of 12 p.m. on Sunday. The coop says their transmission provider, AEP, is experiencing a major outage, leaving 20 of 34 DETEC substations without power. They have said the issue is beyond their control, but they are working with the provider to find a solution. The AEP transmission lines have damaged structures north of the DETEC coverage region, and no restoration estimate is available. However, DETEC has said they are working with Entergy to pick up any additional load the company can offer. Two substations (San Augustine and Bronson) were brought back online Saturday evening in this way. To view their outage map, click here.
Entergy reports 90 households without power in Trinity County as of 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. They have said a restoration crew of more than 1,400 people is helping to assess damage, make repairs and turn the lights back on as quickly as possible. To view their outage map, click here.
Oncor reports 970 households without power in Angelina County, 56 in Henderson County, 86 in Kaufman County, 854 in Nacogdoches County, 116 in Smith County and 118 in Van Zandt County as of 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.
They estimate power will be restored in Henderson County by 5:30 a.m. on Monday, but predictions have not been given for the other locations individually. To see a map of current Oncor outage information, click here.
The company has said their teams continue working around the clock. In one release, they said customers who were impacted by a second wave of storms on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and can receive power are expected to have service restored by Sunday evening.
Customers without power are also asked to examine the meter base and weatherhead to their home or business to ensure they have not been damaged or pulled off. If that has occurred, customers need to contact an electrician to make necessary repairs before Oncor can restore power. In some cases, a permit from the city will also be required.
Rusk County Electric Cooperative reports about 5,034 households without power in Panola County, 199 in Shelby County, 599 in Nacogdoches County and 169 in Rusk County. The coop says a problem has been identified on “the main T-line,” and crews are working to switch it out, but they acknowledge this may be only part of the problem. An AEP transmission line that serves some of Carthage has been restored, but the coop says it is not one that feeds their substations, so RCEC customers remain without power. Work continues to restore other transmission lines. To view their outage map, click here.
SWEPCO reports 90 households without power in Gregg County, 15 in Harrison County, 743 in Panola County, 164 in Rusk County and 3,177 in Shelby County as of 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. The company said crews were making significant and steady progress when the Saturday storms barreled through ArkLaTex and downed more trees, damaged infrastructure and created new outages. SWEPCO’s transmission system, which they call the backbone of the energy delivery system, was also damaged. The company says they deployed aerial patrols early Sunday morning via helicopter to identify damage. Preliminary assessments show multiple trees on lines and damaged infrastructure. Based on transmission damage, numerous substations are temporarily offline, causing customer outages in Panola County and other SWEPCO coverage regions. The current restoration estimate for 95 percent of customers who can receive power in the Henderson and Kilgore areas of Texas is 10 p.m. Sunday, weather permitting. To view their outage map, click here.
Upshur Rural Electric reports 204 households without power in Marion County as of 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, due to a large tree having damaged the Hall Substation. The coop said there are four spans of wire down in a creek that crews are working to repair. They didn’t provide an estimated restoration time. To see their power outage map, click here.
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