April 15, 2020 (1 p.m. Wednesday) - SWEPCO One Voice #6 = Easter Sunday Storms
At 1 p.m. Wednesday, approximately 4,600 customers in East Texas remain without power after three waves of severe storms swept across SWEPCO’s three-state service territory on Easter Sunday. At the peak, 64,000 customers were without power.
Additional crews have joined the SWEPCO, AEP and contract crews already working in the restoration effort. Workers are practicing social distancing and other measures to stay healthy and prevent the spread of coronavirus, making the recovery effort especially challenging.
Damage from high winds and lightning is widespread, requiring significant repair work in many locations across East Texas. Damage includes broken poles, wires down, and trees down from outside the rights-of-way, which caused outages and make access difficult to some locations.
The first line of storms left 22,000 customers without power Sunday morning, mostly in Texas and Louisiana. Power had been restored to 14,000 customers by the afternoon. However, more storms struck Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas during the late afternoon and evening, pushing the total number of customers without power to 64,000 by 9 p.m. Sunday.
Here are the estimated times of restoration for 95% of customers in each area, including surrounding communities. NOTE: Your power may be restored sooner.
East Texas
- Gilmer – 10 p.m. Wednesday
- Gladewater – 10 p.m. Wednesday
- Longview – 12 noon Thursday
Work also continues to restore service to all customers remaining without power in communities not listed above.
OUTAGE INFO:
SWEPCO Mobile App – Report outages, check outage status, and more. Download at App store or Google Play.
SWEPCO Alerts – Get an email or text message with the latest info for your home or business. See SWEPCO.com/Alerts.
SWEPCO.com – outage map, report outages, safety information
SAFETY:
KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE: Help utility crews stay safe and healthy while working to restore your power. Maintain at least six feet of physical distance between yourself and SWEPCO field personnel as we all play a crucial role in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
DOWNED POWER LINES: Never touch a downed utility wire, no matter how harmless it looks. It can be difficult to distinguish between a power line and a cable or telephone line. All downed lines should be considered energized and dangerous. And don't touch anything in contact with the line, such as trees, fences or puddles of water, since they can conduct electricity. Keep children and pets away from this potential hazard. Call SWEPCO to report any downed lines or equipment.
PORTABLE GENERATORS: If you use a portable or RV generator, do not plug the generator into your circuit box. Portable generators "backfeed" electricity up the line and risk the lives of repair workers and the public. Follow the manufacturers' instructions carefully, and plug essential appliances directly into the generator.
CUSTOMER INFORMATION
SERVICE ENTRANCE DAMAGE? SWEPCO cannot connect power to a home or business if there is damage to the service entrance. Customers need to have a qualified electrician repair this damage before power can be restored. The service entrance, which is owned by the customer, includes the metal box housing SWEPCO’s meter, the “weatherhead” pipe on top of the meter box, the service entrance cables running from the weatherhead through the meter box to the inside panel box, and other related facilities. Similar responsibilities apply to underground service. After repairs are made, contact SWEPCO to have power restored.
