Weather in Dallas: Oncor crews work to restore power to thousands

DALLAS – Ice still makes it difficult for crews to restore power to thousands of customers.

Henderson County, southeast of Dallas, had about 1,800 power outages as of 7 a.m. Friday. This is the most in North Texas.

There are only about 800 outages in Tarrant County, and less than 400 in Dallas County. Other outages are scattered in rural areas.

Many frozen tree branches and power lines were cut off.

CONNECTED: Roads freeze again at night, leading to dangerous driving conditions in North Texas

Oncor Electric Delivery deployed more than 2,000 workers to restore power. Neighboring states also sent additional forces.

The Oncor judge said they needed any help they could get.

“In some cases, our teams not only fix some problems, they have to completely clear the area before they can start work,” said Juan Reyes. “In some cases, they don’t just fix outages, they completely restore the electrical infrastructure.”

Crews worked all night to restore power.

Oncor does not know when the repair will be completed.

CONNECTED: Most school districts ultimately decide to cancel classes on Friday.

Power outages are more common in Central Texas. This has led to numerous accusations.

City utility Austin Energy said forecasters are understating the effects of the ice storm. He also criticized Austin and nearby cities for not pruning trees around power lines well.

The mayor of Austin said the power company did not communicate well with its customers.

CONNECTED: More than 360,000 Texans have been left without power as the ice storm continues to rage across Texas.

“I was frustrated and disappointed with the communication, which I thought should have been better with the city’s residents,” Mayor Kirk Watson said.

Austin Energy reports that about 120,000 customers in the Austin area were left without power.

“A full recovery will take longer than originally thought. We understand that this makes an already difficult situation even more difficult,” said Jackie Sargent, general manager of Austin Energy.

The company believes that everyone should have electricity by Friday evening.