What You Need to Know
- As of noon Saturday, SWEPCO has restored power to approximately 19,000 ArkLaTex customers impacted from the most recent round of severe weather, which included three confirmed EF1 tornadoes in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.
- Current restoration estimates for 95 percent of customers who can receive power in the Henderson and Kilgore areas of Texas and the Hornbeck and Natchitoches areas of Louisiana is 10 p.m. Sunday, June 2. It is 10 p.m. today, June 1 for all other Texas customers and Louisiana customers in the Mansfield area. Power may be restored sooner.
- Customers signed up for mobile alerts may receive updated restoration times today for their home or business. Sign up here.
- Much of the remaining damaged infrastructure is in heavily wooded or flooded areas, which requires crews to use specialized equipment to make repairs.
- Customers are urged to stay as far away as possible from downed wires and anything they may be touching. Call 911 to report any hazards or call SWEPCO immediately at (888) 218-3919.
- At peak, about 24,000 customers were without power due to the most recent storm.
- There remains a concern for additional weather outbreaks throughout SWEPCO’s three-state service territory. Customers are advised to stay weather aware. Dangerous weather can slow restoration, keeping line and tree crew safety at the forefront.
CURRENT SITUATION
Storm damage in the Natchitoches area.
Hundreds of utility professionals continue to work safely and quickly to restore service to the nearly 4,000 customers who remain without power following multiple rounds of severe weather over the past week, which included three EF1 tornadoes in De Soto Parish, confirmed by the National Weather Service
As of noon Saturday, SWEPCO has restored power to approximately 19,000 ArkLaTex customers impacted from the most recent round of severe weather.
Much of the damaged infrastructure in Texas and Louisiana is in heavily wooded or flooded areas, which requires crews to use specialized equipment to make repairs. Crews were deployed to Center, Texas, this morning with backyard machines to make the needed repairs to restore service to the area.
In Louisiana, crews are completing repairs in the Mansfield area, and from there they will be redeployed to Natchitoches and Hornbeck areas to support ongoing restoration efforts underway. Learn more about our restoration process.
This has been the third wettest May on record with more than 11 inches of rain.
With significant rainfall throughout the month the ground is extremely saturated, which can make even a slight wind cause trees to fall from outside the right of ways and potentially create new outages.
Chances remain for more storms to pop up across SWEPCO’s entire three-state service territory. Customers are advised to remain weather aware. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to rebuild following this significant storm.
ESTIMATED TIME OF RESTORATION
SWEPCO has provided estimated restoration times for areas impacted by the storm. However, service could be restored sooner.
Customers who signed up for email or text alerts could receive direct updates on the estimated restoration time at their home or business as crews continue working to restore power. To sign up to receive your personalized restoration update, visit swepco.com/alerts.
| Texas |
Louisiana |
|
10 p.m. today
Mansfield area
10 p.m. Sunday
- Hornbeck area
- Natchitoches area
|
10 p.m. today
- Longview area
- Carthage area
- Gladewater area
- Gilmer area
10 p.m. Sunday
- Henderson area
- Kilgore area
|
POST-STORM SAFETY TIPS
- Stay as far away as possible from downed wires and anything they may be touching. Call 911 to report any hazards or call SWEPCO immediately at (888) 218-3919.
- Carefully investigate before cleaning up any debris. Tree limbs, leaves and other objects moved by the wind could hide downed wires.
- Do not attempt to remove tree limbs or debris within 10 feet of a power line.
- If using a generator, be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions.
CAN YOU RECEIVE POWER?
Now is the time for customers to determine whether their home can receive power - SWEPCO cannot connect power to a home or business if there is damage to the service entrance, which is owned by the customer. Customers must have a licensed electrician repair damage before power can be restored. Click for a flyer in English & Spanish.
Learn how to identify weatherhead damages by watching this video. ENGLISH | SPANISH
GET RESTORATION UPDATES
By enrolling in our alerts at SWEPCO.com/Alerts, customers get updated restoration information. When our crews arrive on individual work sites, a more precise restoration time for the affected group of customers will be updated in our system and communicated through alerts if the customers have signed up to receive our notifications by phone or email. Updated information can also be found at SWEPCO.com/OutageMap.
Enroll in our alerts at SWEPCO.com/Alerts
STAYING CONNECTED
NEXT UPDATE
This is the final update for this storm.