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Texas Restoration Update

By: Texas Editorial Team

08/30/2017

Entergy crew on the way to make repairs in Conroe, Texas.

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Texas

At 8:00 am 58,000 Entergy Texas customers were without power, down from a peak yesterday morning of over 80,000.  Currently there are 6,393 customers that are without power and are unable to be restored at this time due to high water.  Entergy has restored more than 128,000 outages since Harvey began impacting our area on Friday. Our workers continue to safely restore power as quickly as possible.

Flooding is significantly impacting Entergy's ability to restore power to customers in some areas. Damage will be assessed as flood waters recede and restoration will continue as it is safe to do so.

East Region

Jefferson County

Beaumont

There are currently 11,261 customers out in Beaumont and the surrounding areas, down from a high of 15,100 yesterday morning.  Nearly half of the customers without power are currently inaccessible due to flooding.  Although still hindered by water, workers have been able to assess damages in most areas and begin restoring customers.  Assessments will continue today Thursday, August 31, and additional workers have been brought in from Mississippi and Louisiana. 

Workers are attempting to restore equipment feeding the portions of the North Major Drive to Highway 105 area as well as the Amelia area.  Those customers are fed by Amelia Substation, which is out of service due to flood waters.   Workers will also work near the College St. and Gladys St. areas that are without power and expect to restore these areas by today, August 31.  Workers made repairs near Ford Park yesterday and are currently working on voltage issues in that area.  The lift station on Lafin Road was energized yesterday.  Workers continue to energize emergency services while addressing hazardous downed power lines.   Trees on power lines are the main cause of outages in the area as well as broken poles along Eastex Freeway.  South County areas of Fannett and La Belle as well as Bevil Oaks, Pinewood, Countrywood and Northwest Forest continue to remain inaccessible due to flooding.  Employees continue to work and house in their Beaumont Entergy facilities despite existing water conditions in the city in order to serve our customers.

Port Arthur, Mid-County

There are currently 6,317 customers without power in the Port Arthur and Mid-County areas.  Workers are currently working an outage in Port Arthur in the Gulfway Dr. area between Memorial and Twin City Highway. Once that work is completed, approximately 4,000 customers power should be restored and is expected those customers will have power today, August 31.  Outside of those 4,000 customers, approximately half of the remaining outages are inaccessible due to flooding, including Sabine Pass which is still not reachable due to road closure.

Entergy workers are working isolated smaller outages throughout the Port Arthur, Groves, Nederland, Port Neches and Port Acres areas that are not flooded.  In addition to the normal workers, additional workers have been deployed to assist in the restoration efforts.

Liberty County

Dayton, Liberty

There are currently 1,008 customers without power in the Dayton area, 300 of these are due to inaccessibility due to flooding and 700 are out due to a substation being out.  Progress was made last night when a transmission line was put back in service, however a problem was discovered with a substation transformer which is now being worked on. The customers affected are in the south Liberty area, off of Hwy 563 from Hankamer to Liberty.  Flooding is impacting - Hwy 1409 and the Day Lake Rd subdivision. Hwy 90 between Liberty and Dayton has been shut down due to flooding and there is no access to the areas on the other side of the Trinity River. -The Lochshire subdivision is still flooded and cannot be accessed due to the Arkema plant explosions and Hwy 90 being closed.   The Saratoga, Daisetta and Batson areas remain hard to access at this time due to floodwaters, trees and power lines are down on Nichols Rd in Saratoga, according to customer reports. Workers have found an alternate 110 mile route to access this area and workers will be working there today to restore 41 customers. 

Today workers will be working on the substation and in the Batson Saratoga area and will be assessing damage on Hwy 563 via boat and helicopter as well as workers assessing known flooded areas to check for receding water. All customers off of Kubes crossing, in Indian Springs and Hardin have been restored.

Cleveland

There are currently 2,470 customers without power in the Cleveland area and 91 customers without power in the Splendora area.  Floodwaters have receded in Plum Grove allowing our workers to make repairs in the area today, August 31.  There are approximately 20 workers in North and Northwest Cleveland working today to repair damaged power lines.  Workers today will be working today on FM 1725 around the Hillstore area. Repairs have been made to the Splendora downtown area and workers continue to working in the outlying areas for those customers who can safely take power. 

Orange County

Orange, Vidor, Bridge City

The Orange area currently has 29,014 customers without power.  Damage in these areas includes broken poles, damaged transformers, power lines down and trees on power lines. Progress was made in Orange with 4 substations being restored along with 15 main power lines which restored service to Walmart in Orange and Bridge City, as well as the Urgent Care Center in Orange. One substation in Orange lost power due to flooding and 3 substations remain out due to transmission lines being damaged.  Some areas impacted by the substation outages include downtown, old town, Lamar and Front Street, as well as 16^th Street.

In Vidor, approximately 3,500 customers lost power this morning when 2 substations were knocked out due to flooding.

Assessments and restoration efforts are significantly impacted due to high water and road blockage preventing area workers from reaching customers and essential equipment. Today’s focus will be placed on restoration of substations, scouting to assess damage and restoring power where it is safe to do so. There are an additional 51 Entergy workers committed to the Orange area who will arrive once safely able to travel from Lake Charles, Jasper and Woodville. More information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.

Hardin County, Tyler County

Silsbee, Woodville, Lumberton

Currently there are 2,000 customers without power in Silsbee and the surrounding areas with damage assessments approximately 60 percent complete.  Kountze was restored last night except for isolated outages. There are 44 workers restoring power today to this area.  There are 6 poles, power lines and equipment damaged along Highway 69 and 96. Workers are unable to get to these damages due to flooding and road closures.  Outside workers are unable to get to most of these areas at this time due to flooded creeks and water across roads.

There are 2,300 customers out in Woodville and surrounding areas with damage assessments 85 percent complete. There are 26 workers in the Wildwood, Village Mills and Spurger areas restoring power.  There are damaged poles and power lines down in the Spurger area.  These lines service the backside of Wildwood, which cannot be assessed yet due to flooding. The city of Chester has 171 customers without power that we are unable to restore at this time, due to a large tree that has fallen on power lines in a fast-moving creek.   The biggest issue is the creek flooding, which is shutting down road access.

Chambers County

Winnie, Anahuac

There are currently 737 customers without power in the Winnie area.  Restoration efforts are significantly slowed in many areas that are inaccessible due to high water, including I-10 West to Beaumont, Highway 124 and Highway 73.  Today there will be air patrol of the Big Hill, Smith Point, Oak Island, and Hamshire areas.   In the Anahuac area a tree has fallen, damaging a service line causing outages near I-10 East of Highway 61.  This morning workers will be working on Jerry Raymond Road and Wallisville Turtle Bayou Road.

West Region

Montgomery County

Conroe

There are currently less than 300 customers without power in the Conroe, Willis, Montgomery and surrounding Lake Conroe areas. All areas within Conroe are accessible and are currently being worked on.  We currently have 100 customers without power near FM 1097 and Big Oaks Drive and power will be restored today, August 31. Once Conroe, Wills, Montgomery and surrounding Lake Conroe are completely restored, workers will be sent to other impacted areas.  90 percent of customers in the Conroe area have been restored and power is expected to be restored today Thursday, August 31 to all customers who can safely take power.

New Caney

There are 1,637 customers currently without power in the New Caney area.  Roman Forrest is 95 percent restored with the remaining 5 percent still inaccessible due to high water conditions. The Sorters subdivision is 80 percent restored and the remaining 20 percent of the area is now accessible and workers will be assessing damages in that area today, August 31. The Peach Creek subdivision has been 100 percent restored and Kings Colony is 95 percent restored. The Kings Colony subdivision is now accessible and workers are working to repair damages in that area.  The Wood Branch subdivision is without power and has been inaccessible due to high water conditions, but workers will reevaluate the area today, August 31.

Portions of FM1485 east still remain inaccessible due to high water conditions and road obstructions. Workers plan to reassess that area today with plans to have power restored by Friday, September 1 if accessible.

The Woodlands

There are 232 customers currently without power in The Woodlands and South Montgomery County areas. The majority of customers power has been restored and all remaining outages in The Woodlands area are due to inaccessibility or equipment that was damaged by or is submerged from the floods. Those areas still inaccessible due to flooding include areas off I-45 and 242 near River Road and Forest Hills and the southern part of The Woodlands south around Trace Creek and Tanglebrush.  There are potential outages in Woodloch, near Needham Rd, although flooding is preventing access to fully assess the damage. Workers will be out today August 31, scouting for areas in which the water has receded enough to begin work.

127 customers are without power around Torch Pine Ct, Tallowberry, Wavy Oaks, and Wandering Oaks between Gosling and Tangle Brush, due to flooding. Additional outages throughout the Trace Creek subdivision, including Yewleaf, Tallowberry Drive, Simon Lake Lane and West Trace Creek, which are due to submerged transformers, affecting approximately 114 customers. There are at least two known transformers that need to be replaced, which workers should be able to begin work on today. A few commercial customers are without power in South Conroe at I-45 and the San Jacinto River, due to submerged poles that are completely inaccessible until the water recedes. Remaining customers in Grogan’s Point without power are due to workers being unable to access our equipment because of a locked gate. Repairs there should be complete today, pending access.

Less than 50 customers in Forest Hills off 242 remain without power. The assessment of what is accessible is complete but workers need more water to recede before they can begin work, and additional damage is suspected. This area will take the longest to fully restore and restoration time will be provided once a full assessment is made.  A damaged transformer is causing San Jacinto River Authority water well to be without power and work will begin today, August 31, to replace it. Power was restored to 75% of Forest Hills, which was out due to flooding. Power was restored to around 100 customers in Grogan’s Point, who experienced outages due to post storm equipment failure.

Walker County

Huntsville

The Huntsville area currently has 61 customers without power.  There are 40 Entergy workers restoring power in Huntsville, mainly located at Huntsville State Park and Highway 75 South. Power is expected to be restored today Thursday, August 31 to all customers in the Huntsville area who can safely take power.

Grimes County

Navasota

All customers in the Navasota area are 100 percent restored.  Workers from this area are now travelling to assist restoration efforts in other impacted areas.   

Entergy has brought in additional restoration workers to Texas. As with most restoration efforts, Entergy is focusing on restoring power to essential services first, and then the effort will focus on restoring service to areas where the greatest numbers can be restored fastest. This is how we approach things at this stage:

1. Essential services such as hospitals, nursing homes, fire and police departments, and water systems are at the head of the restoration list, along with our equipment that supplies electricity to large numbers of customers.
2. Then we will concentrate our resources on getting the greatest number of customers back the fastest.
3. We cannot use our bucket trucks until sustained winds are less than 30 mph, but we can still begin restoring service to customers by closing circuit breakers, rerouting power and other actions. 

As with any weather event, please be mindful of the following safety tips:

1. Live wires can be deadly. Stay away from downed power lines. Call 1 800 9OUTAGE or 1 800 968 8243 to report downed or dangling power lines, poles or other damaged equipment.
2. Do not trim trees or remove debris on or near downed power lines. Only power company crews or their contractors should remove trees or limbs touching power lines.
3. Keep away from the immediate areas where crews are working. There is always the danger of moving equipment and the possibility of construction materials or limbs or overhead wires falling to the ground.
4. If you plan on using a generator for temporary power, get a licensed electrician and disconnect from the utility electric system before hooking up to your home main electric panel.
5. Do not run a generator in a confined space without adequate ventilation.
6. Avoid using candles or other flammable devices to warm your home.
7. Try to stay off the roads. More traffic in bad weather leads to more accidents, including more injuries and fatalities as well as accidents that can damage electrical poles and other equipment, creating outages and impeding the ability of crews to access and repair damage and slowing restoration.

Imminent flooding or when it is occurring, or evacuation:

1. Before leaving, prepare your home by turning off your electricity at the main fuse or breaker and your water at the main valve. Also check for and secure objects that could cause damage if blown by high winds.
2. When power is restored, look for electrical system damage. If you see sparks or broken or frayed wires, or notice the smell of hot insulation, turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker. You may need a licensed electrician to assess your equipment and assure safety.
3. If it looks as though water may enter your home, it’s a good idea to open the main breaker in your electrical breaker box in order to cut off power.

After a flood:

1. Did the water level rise above your electrical outlets but stop below the electric meter?
   1. If you are present when Entergy workers arrive:
      1. We will advise you to turn off your main breaker and have repairs made. You will then need to turn your main breaker back on.
      2. For your safety, we suggest a qualified electrician inspect electrical equipment inside of the facility or home, even if your city or parish does not require inspection. If the breaker is turned on before such inspections, you may cause personal injury or property damage.
   2. For customers with property damage:
      1. If your property has any water damage, please turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker.
      2. Call a licensed electrician for advice when necessary.
      3. Don’t step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker.
      4. A licensed electrician may need to inspect your property’s electric wiring before we can restore power to a home or business that has water damage from rain or flood waters.
   3. For customers without property damage:
      1. Property owners without storm damage should still be cautious.
      2. Look for electrical system damage after power is restored. If you see sparks, broken or frayed wires, or the smell of hot insulation is noticeable, turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker.

We want to keep you informed and in control so here is the best way to get information about outages in addition to the View Outage application:

1. Download our app for your smartphone at entergy.com/app or visit entergystormcenter.com to stay informed on our restoration progress.
2. Sign up for text alerts. From your cellphone, text REG to 368374 or visit entergytext.com.
3. Follow us on Twitter.com/Entergy or Facebook.com/Entergy.
4. Follow updates in your local news media, like radio, television and newspapers.

Tags

Texas  Corporate  Hurricane Harvey  Storm Center 

Texas Editorial Team