Murphy Messenger

Dallas/Fort Worth hit hard by continuous storms

DALLAS (June 11, 2009) – Lightning, rain, flooding, and have continued in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, leaving downed power lines and outages in the storm’s wake. Oncor has restored service to more than 150,000 customers since storms began Wednesday night, but because of continuing storms, at 11 a.m., more than 245,000 homes and businesses were without power in Oncor’s service territory (down from a peak of 260,000).

“We are experiencing significant equipment damage from the extremely heavy lightning embedded in these storms,” said Jim Greer, Senior Vice President of Asset Management and Engineering. “We have over 2600 Oncor employees, contract employees, and vegetation employees working as hard as they safely can given the extreme weather conditions.”

Oncor is bringing in additional resources from across the state and even from states as far away as Alabama, Missouri and Louisiana in an effort to get power restored as soon as safely possible.

Oncor opened the System Emergency Center at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10. The center will remain open around-the-clock until major repairs are completed.

Keep these safety tips in mind during severe thunderstorms:
• 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. Do not touch the power line or anything else touching it. It may not look dangerous, but it could still be energized and therefore possibly deadly. Keep pets, children and others away from the area, too.
• 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, a risk that could potentially injure or even kill you.
• If a power line falls across your vehicle, call 9-1-1 and stay put until help arrives. Your tires provide important insulation from electric current. Stepping from your car could make you part of a complete electric circuit, resulting in electric shock or even death.
• Protect electronics and appliances by unplugging them or installing surge protectors. Surge protectors may go out over time, so they should be replaced every so often. This is a small cost compared to the cost of replacing expensive electronics.
• Keep an emergency kit handy with a flashlight, battery-powered or crank radio, bottled water and extra batteries if needed. Check out www.oncor.com/safety for a storm safety kit diagram.
• If your power goes out, don't assume the electric company knows. Call the outage number on your electric bill to report it.
• Exercise extreme caution if using candles during a power outage. Always keep candles away from flammable objects and never leave them burning unattended.
• If you need immediate, emergency help, call 9-1-1.