At 11 a.m. Monday, SWEPCO is working to restore power to approximately 1,370 people in the Longview area who remain without power after the severe storms struck the Ark-La-Tex Wednesday.
A work force of more than 600 line and service personnel continues to focus on restoration in areas of heaviest damage to the electric system, where it often takes multiple crews working on a single line to complete repairs. Access is difficult in many areas, with crews using smaller “back-yard machines,” cranes and tracked vehicles to reach and replace broken poles and downed lines.
In Longview, the estimated time of restoration for 95 percent of customers who can take service is 10 p.m. Monday (many customers’ power will be restored sooner).
SWEPCO has restored power to more than 68,630 of the 70,000 customers who lost power at the peak of the storms. Work continues in Texas and Louisiana communities to complete service restoration, including new outages that have occurred since last Wednesday’s storms.
IMPORTANT SAFETY REMINDERS:
DOWNED POWER LINES: Never touch a downed line, or go near it, no matter how harmless it looks. The line could be energized. Don’t touch anything in contact with the line, such as trees, fences or puddles of water. Stay away, and keep others away, especially children and pets. Call SWEPCO or 911 immediately.
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:
DAMAGED SERVICE ENTRANCE – SWEPCO cannot connect power to any home or business where there is damage to the service entrance. The service entrance is the area located 1) at the meter, 2) between the meter and the home’s electrical panel, or 3) the location where ‘s cable connects to the home/business owner’s cable. These are customer-owned facilities. Customers need to have a qualified electrician repair this damage before power can be restored to the home or business.
CREWS AT WORK – Residents without power are asked not to stop crew trucks as this will only slow down repairs. SWEPCO asks for your patience and understanding during the restoration process. In many areas, crews must rebuild significant portions of electric facilities to restore power.
OUTAGE INFO:
SWEPCO Mobile App – Report outages, check outage status, and more. Download at App store or Google Play. See SWEPCO.com/App
SWEPCO Alerts – Get an email or text message with the latest info for your home or business. See SWEPCO.com/Alerts.
SWEPCO.com – View an outage map, report outages and find additional safety information.