SWEPCO EMERGENCY RESTORATION UPDATE
Emergency assessment and response is well underway by SWEPCO crews across the service area after powerful storms brought down trees in east Texas and into northwest Louisiana. As of 9 a.m., Friday, more than 238,168 customers were without power. Many roads were also blocked by some of the same downed trees that took down power lines.
Crews are working now to support four regional hospitals impacted by the extreme weather in Shreveport, Louisiana and Marshall and Longview, Texas to help make those facilities safe.
Described by some as a storm with hurricane-level impacts, SWEPCO has activated an all-in response. Already, the utility has requested mutual aid assistance with a call for an additional 185-line worker crews and forestry resources with an estimated 2,000 additional utility professionals to join in the recovery work.
Reports show the early morning storms delivered howling winds that included peak wind gusts that snapped trees and downed lines. As a result of the wide-spread damage, the restoration and recovery effort will take time and officials report that could span many days. Crews continue to assess damage to identify the extent of the severe weather impacts, equipment repairs and time needed to safely restore power.
Estimated restoration times may be shared by late Friday evening, once the full assessments are completed.
Peak wind gusts were initially reported as follows:
| 9 miles S Barksdale AFB, LA | 80 mph |
| Shreveport Regional Airport, LA | 70 mph |
| Mount Pleasant Regional Airport, TX | 69 mph |
| Barksdale AFB, LA | 67 mph |
| Shreveport Downtown Airport, LA | 66 mph |
| Longview – East Texas Regional Airport, TX | 63 mph |
| 13 miles ENE Carthage, TX | 58 mph |
In addition to our crews, law enforcement and city officials have joined in support to help clear roads.
For your safety and for the efficiency of our crew efforts, please refrain from approaching our crews while they are on scene or staging areas. Contact our customer service personnel with any questions. As always, your safety and the safety of our crews remains paramount. Stay away and keep children and pets away from downed lines. Treat all downed power lines as if they are energized and dangerous. You can report hazards to SWEPCO at 888-218-3919.
Stay Connected
- SWEPCO.com/Alerts for text or email alerts
- SWEPCO.com/Outages to view outage updates and outage map
- SWEPCO.com/App for quick and easy access for updates
- 1-888-218-3919 to report hazards
Safety Reminders
Downed power lines – Never touch a downed line, or go near it, no matter how harmless it looks. The line could be energized. Don’t touch anything in contact with the line, such as trees, fences or puddles of water. Stay away, and keep others away, especially children and pets. Call SWEPCO or 911 immediately.
Portable generator safety – If you use a portable or RV generator, do not plug the generator into your circuit box. Portable generators can “backfeed” electricity up the line and risk the lives of repair workers and the public. Follow the manufacturers’ instructions carefully and plug essential appliances directly into the generator.
Thank for your continued patience as our crews work safely to help all our customers return to full power following this extreme weather.
