Austin Energy enters phase 2 in repairing widespread storm damage
Austin power crews work to restore power
Power crews worked through the day on Friday to restore power to thousands of people affected by a microburst that took down trees and power lines.
AUSTIN - Power restoration continues for thousands of people two days after a powerful storm hit Austin. A microburst is blamed for the outage.
We're getting a look at the work crews are doing to restore electricity. Crews have been in northwest Austin all day.
Austin Energy Repair Efforts
The Latest:
There are still about 9,000 people without power throughout north, central, and east Austin as of Friday afternoon.
More than a hundred power poles were toppled throughout the city.
Austin Energy is in phase two of restoration, which are areas that affect most people. Phase one was public safety infrastructure.
Poles are being brought in, crew members are on poles, in bucket trucks, and equipment is all over the neighborhood; it’s a welcome sight for these residents.
Cleanup begins after severe storms
Clean-up and power restoration has begun after a severe storm Wednesday caused damage and outages across Austin. One person also died in the storm.
The neighborhood was among the hardest hit, and the crews up and down the street will be there until power is restored, which will be longer than a day.
Austin Energy says there were 12 consecutive broken power poles in the area, many in backyards, which is a challenge.
Centerpoint Energy crews from Houston are helping. There are 250 mutual aid crew members across the city.
Austin Energy says this was the third-worst storm in its history.
What they're saying:
Grace Espinosa lost power on Wednesday. It's been two days in the dark for this northwest Austin neighborhood.
"With no electricity, it gets really warm in the house. So, we're getting some fans trying to make things work. We've got a cooler to keep some stuff cool, like the food. But (the kids) love the outdoors, so we're just outside all the time," said Espinosa.
Craig Brooks, director of support services for Austin Energy, says it's time-consuming to replace poles in private backyards. Additionally, crews have to clear out old broken equipment and tree limbs to do much of their work.
"We've had some vegetation issues with trees that have been down. Just due to the high winds, so poles down, trees down," said Brooks. "They make contact with the wires, and they take all the stuff down."
Then they have to dig holes, set the new poles, and get the wire up before energizing them. There's no restoration timeline yet; it could be multiple days with the level of damage.
"It is very uncommon. I mean, you would normally see damage like this during a tornado, major hurricanes, but for us to have a very short event, it was pretty catastrophic," Brooks said.
Austin Energy is telling residents to be patient and make way for crews.
"Our responsibility now with me managing the mutual aid that came in, is just making sure that we restore power," Brooks said.
And neighbors here say they understand repairs take time.
"We're hoping it just comes back soon for the sake of the boys and our neighbors and everyone," Espinosa said. "But yeah, it's good. We know they're working hard."
What you can do:
Call 512-322-9100 to report a downed power line. If fallen limbs are causing sparks, please call 911.
Never touch a downed power line, even if it crosses a road or a vehicle. Stay at least 35-feet away from downed power lines and never use an object to move a downed line.
Never touch anything in contact with a power line when a live wire touches the ground. Electricity can even fan out onto the ground, across the immediate area. So please stay clear.
If you have an outage, please report that outage by calling 512-322-9100 or visit outagemap.austinenergy.com.
The Source: Information in this article came from Austin Energy and affected residents.