On Tuesday, over 200,000 North Texans were without power. Oncor crews are working 16-hour shifts and expect most power to be restored by late Thursday, with some possibly waiting until Saturday. This uncertainty is challenging for homeowners and businesses. NBC 5’s Allie Spillyards reports from Oak Cliff.
More than 200,000 North Texans remained without power Wednesday.
Oncor said its crews are working 16-hour shifts to get the lights back on, but they estimate it will be late Friday before most have their electricity restored. In some cases, it could be Saturday.
The unknown is difficult for homeowners but also businesses who are unable to open their doors.
Inside a darkened Olmo Market in Oak Cliff, it’s not only a waiting game but also a race against time and rising temperature.
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“We have been without power for going on 24 hours at this point,” said co-owner of both Olmo and CocoAndre Chocolatier Cindy Pedraza.
Since Tuesday morning's storms, Pedraza said a mission to save the chocolate has grown increasingly urgent.
“It was starting to feel pretty muggy. As soon as the temperature hit 86, you could feel it in here. It got to 76, which is still ok for chocolate, but that’s when we started to get a little scared,” she said.
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After getting word that power may not be restored until Friday or Saturday, employees rushed to secure a generator, fans, and a portable air conditioning unit.
Next door, employees at Herby’s Burgers are also doing their best to prevent loss.
“We started out as pop-up style, so it’s pretty easy for us to just pivot back into that,” said general manager Olivia Hargrave.
For several hours, employees relied on a propane-powered grill to keep the doors open, grilling up burgers and serving chips and soda under a tent outside of the newly opened restaurant.
“We’re just trying to make the best of it, still trying to feed everybody, still trying to go through everything,” she said.
Pedraza said she’s already been forced to cancel one upcoming event and hopes she won’t have to cancel a second.
“It feels like a month that you’ve lost of work when you lose a few days as a small business,” she said.
For now, there’s nothing to do but wait.
