Austin power outage

Downed trees and ice on power lines left tens of thousands of people in Austin in the dark on Wednesday. At times, nearly a third of Austin Energy's ...

The electric utility says crews are working to fix the outages, but icy roadways and frozen equipment have slowed things down. The National Weather Service ...

Williamson and Hays counties are also [seeing](https://outages.pec.coop/outage/) outages. The agency said it plans to resume bus service Thursday, but it won't be on a normal schedule: Buses won't get on the road until 10 a.m. "Some walkways and stairwells are closed but all roadways are open.” UT Austin will also The power went out for Northwest Austin resident India Gail this morning around 9. The county said Austin Energy is working to restore service. “They want to watch TV,” Gail said, referring to her 5-year-old daughters. Austin Energy customers can report a power outage by calling 512-322-9100 or texting "OUT" to 287846. If you come across a traffic light that is not working or is flashing red, treat it as a four-way stop. Downed power lines have also caused problems for drivers. The winter storm warning from the National Weather Service has extended for the Austin area and the Hill Country until 10 a.m. "Additionally, we're experiencing repeated outages in affected areas as trees and branches continue to topple on our power lines, leading to additional outages."

Austin's main power provider warned that outages could last through Thursday. More than 300000 customers in Texas did not have power Wednesday because of ...

AND the complete lack of information on local radio,” she texted the Tribune. “We have this round of freezing rain that’s just coming through, and it's not going to go anywhere.” Join thousands of readers who power The Texas Tribune’s nonprofit newsroom. “I live out in the country, so it’s not like I can just run to Walmart,” Cave said. By about 4 p.m., after tens of thousands of customers had lacked power for hours, the company said outages [would persist into Thursday and urged people to relocate](https://twitter.com/austinenergy/status/1620838188343504897). The 52-year-old said she’s signed up for every text alert in town, but she heard nothing from Austin Energy, the city or the state. Thousands of flights that were scheduled to arrive at or depart from airports in Dallas and Austin were canceled. “I get that there’s a fine line between preparedness and panic, but I wish they’d been more aggressive in their communications.” “Really asking people still to stay inside if they can and not travel.” By about 9 p.m., roughly 160,000 customers of the Austin utility provider The outages come as residents experience another night of near-freezing temperatures and another day of closed college campuses, public schools and a paused Legislature. At one point, more than half of those affected were served by Austin Energy, which warned customers Wednesday evening that the outages could extend until 6 p.m.

Check our map of power outages in Texas where hundreds of thousands of residents were without electricity Wednesday after a winter storm hit the state.

[In February 2021](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/02/25/texas-power-outage-death-toll-medical-examiner-processing-86-cases/6808150002/), winter weather brought record freezing temperatures to the state, left 4 million customers without electricity and almost half the state's 29 million people under boil water advisories. CT, as the area endured [another day of the winter storm](https://www.statesman.com/story/weather/2023/02/01/austin-power-outages-map-weather-texas-thousands-impacted/69861487007/). The weather service warned that “significant” icing is expected, with accumulations reaching up to one-half inch. [At least 210 people died](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/02/25/texas-power-outage-death-toll-medical-examiner-processing-86-cases/6808150002/) during the outages and freezing weather. [250,000 without power in Texas, 1,800 flights canceled, at least 6 dead as winter storm sweeps US](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2023/02/01/ice-storm-texas-arkansas-tennessee-wednesday-weather-updates/11150433002/) [An ice storm warning was in effect ](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2023/02/01/ice-storm-texas-arkansas-tennessee-wednesday-weather-updates/11150433002/)until Thursday morning in parts of [north and central Texas](https://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=FWD&wwa=winter%20storm%20warning), with mostly freezing rain and sleet expected in the area, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth warned. [Death toll from Texas February snowstorm climbs to 210, state officials say](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/07/14/texas-february-snowstorm-death-toll-ercot/7973546002/) [300,000 without power in Texas, 1,800 flights canceled, at least 6 dead as winter storm sweeps US](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2023/02/01/ice-storm-texas-arkansas-tennessee-wednesday-weather-updates/11150433002/) [Smith County](https://data.tallahassee.com/national-power-outage-map-tracker/area/smith-county-texas/48423/), as well as around 11,000 in [Bell County,](https://data.tallahassee.com/national-power-outage-map-tracker/area/bell-county-tx/48027/) according to [USA TODAY Network's power outage database.](https://data.tallahassee.com/national-power-outage-map-tracker/area/texas/48/) [@nataliealund](https://twitter.com/nataliealund). [battle frigid temperatures and freezing rain.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2023/02/01/ice-storm-texas-arkansas-tennessee-wednesday-weather-updates/11150433002/) [Williamson County](https://data.tallahassee.com/national-power-outage-map-tracker/area/williamson-county-texas/48491/), just north of Austin. [Travis County](https://data.tallahassee.com/national-power-outage-map-tracker/area/travis-county-texas/48453/) alone, which houses the state capital of [Austin](https://bit.ly/3jnoaaw), nearly 176,000 customers – more than a quarter of the energy customers in the county – were without power as of about 6:30 p.m.

Austin Energy Continuing to Restore Power with Major Restoration Efforts Expected through Friday. Due to challenging icing conditions, Austin Energy is ...

If utilizing a space heater, opt for a model with automatic shut-off switches and non-glowing elements. - Due to the high number of customers trying to report power outages, Austin Energy’s system currently isn’t allowing some people to submit through their outage map or by text. We are also experiencing frozen switches designed to stop the flow of power on a line in the event of a fault. However, restoration efforts have been slow due to consistently freezing temperatures and accumulating ice. Since the storm began early Wednesday morning, Austin Energy has restored more than 72,000 customers.

The National Weather Service's winter storm warning for the Austin metro area and the Hill Country was set to expire at 6 a.m. Thursday.

Fresenius Medical Care had its North and South Austin clinics lose power, but it was able to send patients to other clinics with power. The hospital was "operational with minimal impact to patient care," an Ascension Seton statement said. The city of Austin had opened its cold-weather shelters on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and planned to have them open again on Thursday. "Rain chances come to an end across all areas of South-Central Texas by early Thursday evening," the weather service said. In an abundance of caution, all remaining non-emergent procedures are being rescheduled," said Tom Jackson, CEO of the hospital. "The safety of our patients was not compromised at any time. Two occupants were hospitalized, and one dog died in the fire. The Austin Fire Department, which reported that several fire stations had lost power, said that fire crews between 3 a.m. Otherwise, temperatures should climb into the lower 40s amid chilly north-northwest winds of 10 to 15 mph with gusts as strong as 20 mph. "Ice is accumulating on power lines, utility poles and tree limbs leading to power outages." Those higher limbs snap and tumble across the canopy of tree limbs. Thursday's weather is expected to be better — but only by a little.

The Central Texas winter storm has left 150000 in the dark Thursday as power lines have been damaged by ice.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service extended the winter storm warning to 10 a.m. Thursday for the Austin metro area and neighboring Hill Country, ...

"The weather is going to improve today and tomorrow," said Austin Energy spokesperson Matt Mitchell. The department is [advising people](https://twitter.com/TxDOTAustin/status/1621150397661614081?s=20&t=SNUmIkkGPKIcXxYKDZbObw) against traveling this morning. "At this point, most of the roads are in pretty decent shape within the city," said Keith White, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio. In total, Austin Fire said it was called to nearly 370 instances of arcing wires. A tweet by the utility company states that they are " [unable to provide a specific system-wide restoration estimate](https://twitter.com/austinenergy/status/1621235217909383169?s=20&t=AauYWci0m8I22zpkBfbXRA)" after previously estimating full restoration by Friday at 6 p.m. [Austin area districts are keeping schools closed Friday](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2023/02/02/austin-school-closures-tomorrow-power-outages-downed-trees/69867681007/) amid ongoing power outages and downed tree limbs at several campuses after winter storms this week chilled temperatures below freezing, leaving Central Texas soaked with freezing rain and accumulating ice. The utility company said yesterday that outages could last for 12 to 24 hours. Warming centers are also open today throughout the city at multiple libraries and recreation centers. [155,000 Austin Energy ](https://outagemap.austinenergy.com/)customers who don't have power. Initially, forecasters set the warning to end by 6 a.m., but a storm system over West Texas pushed east, causing for more precipitation, the National Weather Service said. on Thursday, with a chance of reaching 42 degrees by the afternoon. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service extended the winter storm warning to 10 a.m.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Energy said it determined it was unable to provide a specific system-wide restoration estimate. The utility originally said it ...

Mayor Kirk Watson said he shared the frustrations of Austin residents left without power for days and said the city will improve how it communicates during ...

They’re cold and then they’re in the dark.” He told The Texas Tribune that at a minimum, residents should be able to ask questions and receive answers “as opposed to [the utility] just sending press releases.” Join thousands of readers who power The Texas Tribune’s nonprofit newsroom. But Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent said Thursday that officials opted to wait because of the fluidity of the situation. During Winter Storm Uri — when millions of people lost access to power and water amid record-low temperatures — the Texas Division of Emergency Management failed to send out cellphone notifications via the national Emergency Alert System. He said the city could have intentionally used elected officials as communication ambassadors, as many counties did with COVID-19 protocols. In the end, 246 Texans died in the 2021 disaster per the official estimate, though some experts said the true toll The reporting tool was back up and running Thursday. [tweeted](https://twitter.com/austinenergy/status/1620838188343504897?s=20&t=vygM8_f99jU84tYqZV-Dhw) that some customers could be without power for 12 to 24 hours. A press conference about the power outages should have taken place earlier, he added. On Wednesday night, after tens of thousands of people had endured much of the day with no electricity, the company extended its timeline of fixing the local power outages to Friday at 6 p.m. As more than 150,000 customers sat without power Thursday afternoon, Austin Energy said it could no longer promise when electricity would be fully restored.

Circuit breaks lit up the night sky during the ice storm as an estimated 265000 Austin Energy customers lost power.

I've been frustrated by the lack of power in our homes, including mine. And I've been frustrated and disappointed in the communication that I feel like should have been better with the people of the city. So trees that are underlines and that weakens the trees. And so in cases like this, it actually adds to the potential problem. We could really use help in that area with getting our residents to understand the importance of vegetation management, to allow our crews in, to get the vegetation management done. We have increased our budget and our focus to trim trees.

Austin Energy expects all power to be restored by Friday evening. By then, some will have been in the dark for multiple days.

Nearly 350000 customers in the state were without power on Thursday afternoon. And one major utility service in the state said it did not know when it would ...

At this time, we are unable to provide a restoration time.— Austin Energy (@austinenergy) (1:45 p.m.) We have determined we are unable to provide a specific system-wide restoration estimate. At this time, we are unable to provide a restoration time." [as of Thursday ](https://poweroutage.us/area/state/texas)evening. [major ice storm](https://www.npr.org/2023/01/31/1152781168/ice-storm-texas-south-flights-travel) hitting the Southern U.S. The storm led to power outages in hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

While weather conditions have greatly improved, Austin Energy has determined we are unable to provide a specific system-wide restoration estimate.

We appreciate the patience of our customers as our lineworkers brave these conditions and work with the rest of our staff to restore power. Many of the issues include damages to equipment on the homeowner side. Additionally, the majority of the outages from this winter storm are complex involving heavy construction equipment in areas that are sometimes impassable due to downed trees and branches.