5/10/19, 11:00 a.m.
More than 500 line and service personnel are working in the field to restore power, including crews from throughout SWEPCO and outside contractors, following severe storms that struck the Ark-La-Tex Wednesday.
At 11 a.m. Friday, SWEPCO had restored power to 47,100 of the 70,000 customers impacted by the storms. Crews are working as safely and quickly as possible to restore electric service to the 22,900 customers who remain without power. The storms caused extensive damage to SWEPCO’s electric system, including hundreds of broken utility poles and downed wires.
Much of the remaining work involves areas with difficult access or extensive work at a single location to restore service to smaller numbers of customers. For example, a single pole replacement can take several hours to complete in order to restore power to five customers.
More severe weather today may impact restoration efforts and cause additional power outages.
Remaining outages include 18,200 customers in Texas and 4,700 in Louisiana.
See the list below for estimated times of restoration (ETRs) by area.
Important notes:
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.
Estimated times of restoration for 95% of customers that can take service (many customers’ power will be restored sooner):
Longview District:
Carthage – 3 – Noon Saturday
Gilmer – 73 – Noon Saturday
Gladewater – 1,673 – Noon Sunday
Henderson – 43 – Noon Friday
Kilgore – 218 – Noon Saturday
Longview – 15,924 – 10 p.m. Monday
Marshall – 161 – Noon Saturday
Mineola – 35 – 10 p.m. Saturday
Shreveport District:
Bossier City – 31 – 10 p.m. Friday (revised)
Haughton – 747 – 10 p.m. Saturday
Plain Dealing – 6 – Noon Friday (revised)
Shreveport – 1,513 – 10 p.m. Saturday
Vivian – 222 – 5 p.m. Friday (revised)
Valley District:
Hornbeck – 24 – 5 p.m. Friday
Logansport – 41 – 10 p.m. Friday
Mansfield – 1,141– 10 p.m. Friday
Natchitoches – 984 – 6 p.m. Saturday (Creston area 10 p.m. Saturday)
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 AEP to report any downed lines or equipment. Call SWEPCO or 911 immediately.
SAFETY – 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. SeeSWEPCO.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.