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SWEPCO Restoring Power Following Severe Weather I Update #4

Update: 4/30/2024 5:20 PM CT

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

An army of more than 1,200 utility professionals, including lineworkers and tree crews from Alabama, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky and Georgia, made another strong push Tuesday to restore power to more customers. Nearly 91% of all customers have been restored in under 43 hours.
The National Weather Service’s storm survey team confirmed four tornadoes barreled through SWEPCO’s service territory and had peak wind gusts between 85-100 mph.
As work continues, remember to always treat any downed lines as dangerous. Call 911 to report any hazards or call SWEPCO immediately at (888) 218-3919.
Because of the rain-soaked areas, teams have leveraged resources on the ground, in the air and on boats to get to the work needed to be done.

CURRENT SITUATION

Line and tree crews from SWEPCO and the 1,200 assisting from outside our service territory have restored power to over 52,000 customers as of Tuesday 11am. 4 confirmed tornadoes touched down within SWEPCO’s service area with winds reaching 100 mph. It resulted in downed poles and lines along LA 2 and Wise Road, both in the Plain Dealing areas as well as damage in southwest Shreveport.

SWEPCO crews began efforts to get the lights back on for its customers soon after the multi-state storms passed late Sunday evening. Storm damage was far-reaching with a headline-making weather system that spanned the nation’s heartland and spawned hundreds of tornadoes across the Midwest including four confirmed by the National Weather Service within SWEPCO’s service territories in Northwest Louisiana.

An army of more than 1,200 utility professionals, including lineworkers and tree crews from Alabama, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky and Georgia, made another strong push Tuesday to restore power to more customers. Nearly 91% of all customers have been restored in under 43 hours.

As progress continues, SWEPCO shared that due to the excessive damage to electrical equipment including transmission and distribution systems, remaining SWEPCO customers should prepare for extended power outages and in some cases additional outages could occur as the system is repaired.

Often the smaller the outage numbers become the more difficult the jobs. Rest assured, SWEPCO and crews who have joined forces to repower every customer, remain undaunted and will continue to get power flowing to every customer.

SWEPCO is continuing to review and, when possible, update for customers when they can expect to have their power restored. These Global Estimated Time of Restoration or ETRs is an estimate of how long it will take to restore 95% of all customers affected. The more damage there is to the system, the further out in time the global ETR will be.

POWERING THE RESPONSE

We are powering forward on behalf of all our customers. With thanks to an army of more than 1,200 utility professionals, including lineworkers and tree crews who came to help from six states, we made another important step forward on Tuesday. Nearly 91% of all customers have been restored in under 43 hours. As that work progresses, we will share any potential restoration time updates.

At peak, approximately 61,000 SWEPCO customers were without power.

As of Tuesday, at 5 p.m., power has been restored to roughly 55,627 customers.

All hospitals and critical care facilities are online.

Because of excessive damage to electrical equipment including transmission and distribution systems, SWEPCO customers should prepare for extended power outages and in some cases additional outages could occur as we repair damage to our system.

Based on the number of outages and crews available, we develop a Global Estimated Time of Restoration or ETR, which is an estimate of how long it will take to restore 95% of all customers affected.

The more damage there is to the system, the further out in time the global ETR will be.

Latest restoration times include the following:

Marshall, Carthage, and Mt Pleasant, Texas – 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 30
Hornbeck, Bossier City, Stonewall, Plain Dealing, Vivian and Haughton, La. – 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 30
Shreveport, La. – 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 1

As work progresses, additional updates will be forthcoming.

GET RESTORATION UPDATES

Enroll in our alerts at SWEPCO.com/Alerts or see outages via our SWEPCO.com/OutageMap.

DISCOVER STORM SAFETY TIPS

Storm season brings extra dangers and the time to prepare for the next storm is now. The potential for additional storms is possible later in the week through the weekend. Find safety tips for before, during and after the storm. Learn more

NEXT UPDATE

We will continue to keep you informed as more information becomes available. Updates will be provided at SWEPCO.com and other communication channels.

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