LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – Just under 12,000 East Texas customers of SWEPCO were without power around noon Sunday.
SWEPCO spokesman Mark Robinson said about 70,000 of its customers were without power Sunday morning, but that number decreased to about 54,000 by noon.
Robinson called it a “significant increase” from Saturday’s power outages, noting downtown Longview, Carthage and Henderson had a number of outages, including blackouts.
SWEPCO crews refueled at the Longview Exhibit Center to continue its 24/7 service. The crews then set off with other utilities to help people in need.
Robinson said mutual assistance is very important to its work.
“Whether it’s forestry or line workers and assessors, right. Someone has to go out and look at that damage, see how much damage so we can request the right amount of personnel and supply,” Robinson said.
SWEPCO crews fixed the power outage in downtown Longview Sunday morning. Various stoplights at multiple intersections were out.
Robinson said there were about 6,000 customers without power in Rusk County and 5,000 in Panola County. Forestry services are clearing trees off power lines and roads in the area.
“It’s really a community effort. Those trees are down. They come down on the lines, and we cut them. We pull those lines up and get that power restored,” Robinson said.
Robinson urged people to stay clear of fallen power lines and be mindful of them.
“If there’s any kind of wire on the ground, if you don’t know if it’s power, if it’s utility, if it’s cable, if it’s internet, it could have wrapped around a live wire when it came down. Just leave it alone,” Robinson said.
Crews are continuing to salt and sand roads and bridges.
As the freezing temperatures continue, Robinson expects staging at the Longview Exhibit Center for several more days.
Despite the mass outages, Robinson said East Texans have been “gracious” to utility workers.
“Look, we live in East Texas. People are so kind and so gracious. They’ll have their power out, and they’re still thanking us. We have people coming here from other states and say people are so kind here!” Robinson said.
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