Oncor Continues Restoring Power At Homes, Businesses Across North Texas

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Officials with Oncor say local personnel and out of state utility partners have made significant progress overnight rebuilding infrastructure and restoring power to customers across North Texas.

While there have been a number of new outages, mostly due to ice accumulation and other storm impacts, the company says crews continue to respond as quickly and safely as possible.

Workers are using chainsaws and heavy equipment to remove ice-covered trees and debris that have fallen on powerlines.

As of 6:00 a.m. Friday, approximately 8,300 outages remain, mostly north and northeast of Dallas and near the Red River. Approximately half of those outages occurred with the storm's initial arrival; the remaining half are new outages caused by trees and limbs falling under the weight of remaining ice buildup, ongoing wind conditions and hazardous roadways.

Oncor is also reminding customers that as ice begins to thaw, tree branches that have sagged downwards can abruptly spring up, potentially impacting power lines and causing interruptions. They say the cycle may continue as temperatures rise and fall and lead to new or repeat outage events.