Shelby County Today

April 16, 2020 - The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the City of Huxley public water system, PWS 210019, to issue a Boil Water Notice for CR 2690 in Stillwaters, CR 2693 in Royal Ridge, English Bay area along CR 2700, CR 2783, CR 2793, and Corn & Blisters to inform customers, individuals, or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

The public water system has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of April 15th 2020 for CR 2690 in Stillwaters, CR 2693 in Royal Ridge, English Bay area along CR 2700, CR 2783, CR 2793, and Corn & Blisters.

If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Huxley Water Treatment Plant at (936)368-2633 or Justin Belrose at (936)368-2266.

April 7, 2020 - Due to a main line break, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Huxley Public Water System 2100019 to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc).

Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions). To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.

In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, the public water system officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking water or human consumption purposes. 

Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, the public water system will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Huxley Water Treatment Plant at (936)368-2633 or Justin Belrose at (936)368-2266.

Areas affected are CR 2690 in Stillwaters, CR 2693 in Royal Ridge, English Bay area along CR 2700, CR 2783, CR 2793, and Corn & Blisters.

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.

April 15, 2020 - Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison reported 44 cases of COVID-19 at the beginning of the Commissioners' Court meeting which is currently underway.

Shelby County Office of Emergency Management was notified Monday afternoon by Texas Dept. of State Health Services (DSHS) of 10 more positive confirmed case of COVID-19 bringing the total case count for Shelby County to 44.

Judge Harbison said, "I realize that the count that I report may not be the same as the one on the DSHS website but we are documenting all the cases as we are notified. I apologize for the confusion but we have requested DSHS send their list so we could make sure we have the most updated information. We cannot report information that we do not have."

DSHS reports that the majority of these cases are community spread and not travel related.

According to DSHS reporting, 9 of these 44 cases are hospitalized. DSHS did not have any information on whether any of the 10 new cases were hospitalized.

April 13, 2020 - At 10:30 a.m. Monday, approximately 45,300 customers remain without power after three waves of severe storms with high winds and lightning swept across SWEPCO’s service territory on Easter Sunday.

The outages include 31,200 in Texas, 12,300 in Louisiana and 1,800 in Arkansas.

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, leaving a total of 64,000 customers without power by 9 p.m. Sunday.

The storms heavily damaged SWEPCO’s electric system with multiple broken poles and wires down. For example, in several locations, more than 10 poles were down on a single circuit.

Crews continue to assess damage and restore power as safely and quickly as power. Crews from SWEPCO’s sister companies – AEP Texas and Public Service Company of Oklahoma – are joining the restoration effort, along with outside contract crews. Estimated times of restoration will be provided as assessment progresses. Overall storm restoration will be a multiple-day effort.

SAFETY:

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.

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