DALLAS, October 21, 2019 – Oncor damage assessment and power restoration personnel have been deployed across Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding counties following a line of severe overnight storms. As of 9:00 a.m., 95,000 customers across the Oncor service territory are without power, with a large majority of outages, 55,000, in Dallas along the path of Sunday night’s confirmed tornado.

The tornado heavily damaged homes, businesses, schools as well as electric transmission and distribution equipment. The overnight storms also produced extreme amounts of intense cloud-to-ground lightning, golf ball-sized hail, and winds of 50 – 70 mph outside the tornado impacted areas. The wide-spread storms also impacted areas of Waco, Temple, Tyler and Paris. Oncor has secured additional support from utility partners across Texas and neighboring states.

In many cases, complete reconstruction of electric equipment will be required, including replacing utility poles and transformers before new power lines can be installed. Oncor vegetation management personnel must also remove tree limbs and other debris from lines before repairs can be made. Customers should be prepared for the possibility of extended and multi-day outages in the case of extremely damaged facilities.

Please keep these safety tips in mind during and immediately following severe storms:

• If you see a downed power line, leave the area and call 9-1-1. In addition to the downed line potentially being electrified, anything touching the power line, such as a tree branch, could also be electrified. Keep pets, children and others away from the area.
  
• Do not attempt to remove debris and tree limbs from areas near power lines. The debris may be concealing a live wire or downed power line.
  
• Use caution when traveling on the roadways, especially in areas with heavy debris and streetlights without power.
  
• If you are experiencing and emergency event, call 911 immediately. 

Customers can report outages by calling 888-313-4747, texting OUT to 66267, or by downloading the MyOncor app.

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