Cracked tree branches and debris littered the streets Thursday morning as many North Texas residents entered their third day without power in the aftermath of Tuesday’s severe storms. High winds and heavy rains ravaged the Dallas-Fort Worth area that downed power lines and left more than 600,000 Oncor customers without electricity.
As of Thursday morning, over 150,000 customers still did not have power, but Oncor estimates electricity in Dallas to be restored by Friday or Saturday. Storms are expected to continue into Friday. Oncor enlisted its own vegetation management team as well as outsourcing out-of-state help to remove trees from power lines, which must be done prior to further electrical work.
Christian Solano, a groundsman for Trees LLC — a company that travels across the country to remove downed trees following severe storms — said that he and his crew have been working for 16 hours a day every day since arriving in Texas from Jacksonville, Florida on May 23.
Joe Velasquez, a 31-year old who lives with his 62-year-old mother, Maria Danny, has been reporting the power outage to Oncor every day since Tuesday. The duo has spent the past couple days charging their phones at a Chick-fil-A and using the restaurant’s Wi-Fi to tell family members they are OK.
“Luckily, you know, we go to the gym, or we can go somewhere to hang out and cool off a little bit,” Velasquez said. “But once you’re at home, you feel more … down.”
The multiday outage has also forced Danny and Valasquez to throw out all perishable items in their fridge. Their kitchen is lined with several portable coolers filled with bags of ice, while a few nonperishable items remain in their fridge.
Cruz Cano, a 79-year-old woman living in Pleasant Grove, said the food loss from the outages has been particularly harsh on her and her husband, Agustin Cano, 84, since the pair is retired and has a fixed income.
Edward Jackson, who lives in South Dallas with his immunocompromised mother and grandmother, said that he and his family had to throw out $200 worth of perishable food following the outage.
“Food cost is already high and we had to throw it all away,” Jackson said. “One of our neighbors barbecued a bunch of meat so it wouldn’t go bad and shared it with us.”
“We stay in the ‘hood and nobody [is] going to help us over here,” he added. “We’re helping each other out.”
Jackson said that he and his family have been bathing in cold water, as well as sleeping on the porch to stay cool. He expressed frustration at the lack of natural disaster relief and outreach to South Dallas residents, wondering why his neighborhood has gone under-supported.
“Nobody has come knocking on this door giving us water, or coming down to see if we’re OK,” Jackson said. “I believe that because we stay in South Dallas, a known drug area and a known crime area, they’re not going to come over like that.”
Jackson and his family are also frustrated with Oncor’s inability to give an exact date for when they’ll have power again. Doris Wilson, his grandmother, said last time she called Oncor, she was told they might have power restored by Friday or Saturday.
“‘Might’ is a big word. You might? But when that bill comes in, I might pay it,” Jackson quipped.
The outages have also been impacting local businesses. Fernando Vasquez, manager of R&K General Auto Repair in Casa View, said that business has slowed since his shop lost power Tuesday morning. Vasquez said R&K has no internet or electricity, and they can only make simple repairs. The nearby auto parts stores have been closed due to power outages, so Vasquez and his team can’t access certain parts they need to make repairs.
“I thought Dallas was better than this,” Jackson said.
