Overnight storms knocked out power to approximately a quarter-million SWEPCO customers across north and central Louisiana and east Texas, so many impacted residents need to prepare for a long wait to regain electricity, a company spokesman said this morning.
Approximately 154,000 Louisiana customers, all but 13,000 north of Stonewall in DeSoto Parish, were without power as of 10:30 a.m., said Michael Corbin, external affairs manager for SWEPCO.
“This will be a multi-day restoration event. As soon as assessments are completed, Estimated Times of Restoration (ETR) will be provided as they are available,” Corbin said in a statement.
The first advisory should come in the 3-4 p.m. range today, said Corbin.
SWEPCO personnel and crews from other utility entities are urgently working to assess the scope of the damage, as happens with hurricanes, ice storms and other major weather events, he said.
“The thing that’s different about this storm and will make it a multi-day event is that the fact that so much transmission was also damaged or destroyed, not just distribution that would go to homes and businesses,” he said.
“I think what we’re going to see is places that simply needed refusing or something like that, they’ll see power restored very quickly, and we’ve seen numbers come down already. But then, we’re going to hit that wall where we’ve got to rebuild. The people who don’t come on pretty quick are going to have a few tough days.”
The statement he issued said “high winds that passed through Northwest Louisiana early this morning caused major damage to the electrical grid. The storm originated in the panhandle of Oklahoma as a Super Cell Storm and held together through our area. Winds of 80 MPH or higher are being reported across east Texas and NW Louisiana.
“Crews are currently out accessing damage and creating repair orders. Forestry crews have been mobilized to begin the task of clearing away downed trees to assist with assessment and the rebuilding effort. Additional resources will be utilized to assist with the restoration effort. The damage includes both transmission and distribution lines across the area. Additionally, damage to other utility systems will likely impact feeds to our substations in some areas.
“Restoration priorities will include public safety, hospitals, and critical municipal infrastructure first. If your municipality has critical infrastructure outages, please contact your SWEPCO Account Representative.
“SWEPCO stresses that people should stay away from downed wires and assume any wire is energized and dangerous. Be especially careful if removing downed trees or limbs as they could have wires tangled in them.”
Corbin urged the public to stay safe, and advised customers with outages to keep their refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
UPDATE: June 16, 2023 at 12:40pm
Emergency assessment and response is well underway by SWEPCO crews across the service area after powerful storms brought down trees in east Texas and into northwest Louisiana. As of 11 a.m., Friday, more than 237,000 customers were without power. Many roads were also blocked by some of the same downed trees that took down power lines.
Crews are working now to support four regional hospitals impacted by the extreme weather in Shreveport, Louisiana and Marshall and Longview, Texas to help make those facilities safe.
Described by some as a storm with hurricane-level impacts, SWEPCO has activated an all-in response. Already, we have requested mutual aid assistance with a call for an additional 185-line worker crews and forestry resources with an estimated 2,000 additional utility professionals to join in the recovery work.
Reports show the early morning storms delivered howling winds that included peak wind gusts that snapped trees and downed lines. As a result of the wide-spread damage, the restoration and recovery effort will take time and officials report that could span many days. Crews continue to assess damage to identify the extent of the severe weather impacts, equipment repairs and time needed to safely restore power.
Estimated restoration times may be shared by late Friday evening, once the full assessments are completed.
In addition to our crews, law enforcement and city officials have joined in support to help clear roads.
For your safety and for the efficiency of our crew efforts, please refrain from approaching our crews while they are on scene. Contact our customer service personnel with any questions.
June 16, 2023 at 11am
Overnight storms knocked out power to approximately a quarter-million SWEPCO customers across north and central Louisiana and east Texas, so many impacted residents need to prepare for a long wait to regain electricity, a company spokesman said this morning.
Approximately 154,000 Louisiana customers, all but 13,000 north of Stonewall in DeSoto Parish, were without power as of 10:30 a.m., said Michael Corbin, external affairs manager for SWEPCO.
“This will be a multi-day restoration event. As soon as assessments are completed, Estimated Times of Restoration (ETR) will be provided as they are available,” Corbin said in a statement.
The first advisory should come in the 3-4 p.m. range today, said Corbin.
SWEPCO personnel and crews from other utility entities are urgently working to assess the scope of the damage, as happens with hurricanes, ice storms and other major weather events, he said.
“The thing that’s different about this storm and will make it a multi-day event is that the fact that so much transmission was also damaged or destroyed, not just distribution that would go to homes and businesses,” he said.
“I think what we’re going to see is places that simply needed refusing or something like that, they’ll see power restored very quickly, and we’ve seen numbers come down already. But then, we’re going to hit that wall where we’ve got to rebuild. The people who don’t come on pretty quick are going to have a few tough days.”
The statement he issued said “high winds that passed through Northwest Louisiana early this morning caused major damage to the electrical grid. The storm originated in the panhandle of Oklahoma as a Super Cell Storm and held together through our area. Winds of 80 MPH or higher are being reported across east Texas and NW Louisiana.
“Crews are currently out accessing damage and creating repair orders. Forestry crews have been mobilized to begin the task of clearing away downed trees to assist with assessment and the rebuilding effort. Additional resources will be utilized to assist with the restoration effort. The damage includes both transmission and distribution lines across the area. Additionally, damage to other utility systems will likely impact feeds to our substations in some areas.
“Restoration priorities will include public safety, hospitals, and critical municipal infrastructure first. If your municipality has critical infrastructure outages, please contact your SWEPCO Account Representative.
“SWEPCO stresses that people should stay away from downed wires and assume any wire is energized and dangerous. Be especially careful if removing downed trees or limbs as they could have wires tangled in them.”
Corbin urged the public to stay safe, and advised customers wi