Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in their homes Thursday after more than a day without power, including many in the state capital, as an icy winter storm that has been blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths lingered across much of the southern U.S.
Across Texas more than 280,000 customers were without power Thursday night, down from 430,000 earlier in the day, according to PowerOutage.us. The failures were most widespread in Austin, where impatience was rising among 150,000 customers nearly two days after the electricity first went out, which for many also means no heat. Power failures have affected about 30% of customers in the city of nearly a million at any given time since Wednesday.
Oncor says they are working to repair roughly 4,400 outages statewide Thursday impacting about 100,000 customers, down from about 140,000 earlier in the day.
Oncor said Thursday afternoon that crews are working on damage assessment, vegetation management and power restoration caused by the ongoing winter storm.
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According to Oncor's outage map, as of 9:20 p.m. Thursday, there are roughly 1,800 customers impacted by outages in Dallas County, down from more than 3,000 earlier in the afternoon. By Thursday night there were about 2,700 customers impacted in Tarrant County, down from about 6,800 in the afternoon. The number was down to about 280 outages across Denton and Collin counties Thursday night.
Oncor said their southern, eastern and northeastern regions, including Tyler, Sulphur Springs and Taylor are experiencing the greatest impacts from the storm. As of 9:20 p.m. Thursday, in Smith County (Tyler), there are roughly 21,000 people impacted. In Hopkins County (Sulphur Springs) there are roughly 2,600 people impacted.
In Central Texas, there are roughly 7,350 customers impacted in Travis County, 20,200 in Williamson County and 18,200 in Bell County.
UNCERTAINTY FOR POWER RESTORATION
For many Texans, it was the second time in three years that a February freeze — temperatures were in the 30s Thursday with wind chills below freezing — caused prolonged outages and uncertainty over when the lights would come back on.
In Austin, city officials compared the damage from fallen trees and iced-over power lines to tornadoes as they came under mounting criticism for slow repairs and shifting timelines to restore power.
By Thursday night, Austin officials backtracked on early estimates that power would be fully restored by Friday evening, saying the extent of the damage was worse than originally calculated and that they could no longer predict when all the lights may come back on.
“We had hoped to make more progress today,“ said Jackie Sargent, general manager of Austin Energy. ”And that simply has not happened."
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, at a news conference Thursday, said city officials will review their communication protocols in future disasters.
“I know that top of mind for everyone is restoring power to each and every home, and crews are working even as we speak and have through the night,” the mayor said. “Because of the length and nature of this storm, it has proven very challenging.”
Unlike the 2021 blackouts in Texas, when hundreds of people died after the state’s grid was pushed to the brink of total failure because of a lack of generation, the outages in Austin this time were largely the result of frozen equipment and ice-burdened trees and limbs falling on power lines. But the differences were little comfort to Austin residents and businesses that also lost power for days two years ago.
“It feels like two steps forward and three steps back,” said Sargent.
Among those still without power Thursday was the Central Texas Food Bank, according to Travis County Judge Andy Brown, the county's top elected official.
“They have 21 counties to serve. They've been down for at least three days now. There's a lot of need that they have,” Brown said.
At least 10 people have died due to treacherous road conditions since Monday, including seven in Texas, two in Oklahoma and one in Arkansas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged people not to drive.
On Wednesday, NBC 5 reported Oncor was bringing in roughly 1,000 utility workers through partnerships with other Texas utilities and neighboring states to help speed the restoration of power.
If you lose power, patience is needed as Oncor has crews traveling on slushy, icy roads in extremely hazardous conditions and that may impact response times.
With additional bands of wintery precipitation expected to continue Thursday afternoon, additional outages are possible. Here are some tips on how you can prepare for a power outage. Oncor said they are closely monitoring weather conditions and will continue to respond as outages occur.
Oncor reminds everyone that if they see a downed power line to stay away, keep pets away and immediately call 911. Customers can report outages by downloading the MyOncor App or by calling 1-888-313-4747. Oncor can also be followed on Facebook and Twitter.
