PADRE ISLAND, Tx — Neighbors on Padre Island are spending their Saturday morning in the dark after widespread power outages. Traffic lights were down and businesses turned customers away.
According to AEP Texas' Outage Map, over 4,000 customers are experiencing the early morning loss of power.
Overnight, residents reported the power went out at approximately 3 a.m. The power eventually returned, only to go out once again shortly after 6 a.m.
Local businesses like Kilates Coffee, owned by Kathya Reppart, faced difficulties Saturday morning while the lights were out.
"We rely on electricity for everything, so we can't use our cash registers, AC, or machines. We were selling only cold brews in the morning," Reppart told KRIS 6 News.
Reppart wants to assure neighbors that Kilates Coffee would reopen as soon as power is restored.
Larry Reuter, another resident, recounted, "As far as we knew at 8 o'clock, when we woke up, it was out. Then it came back on briefly and went right back down." Reuter expressed the challenge of staying informed without charged devices, an issue echoed by many affected residents.
Reuter also remarked on the difficulty of receiving updates during such situations, emphasizing the need for a more effective communication system from the city.
Some areas of the island have had power restored, but crews are still actively working to restore the rest.
KRIS 6 News reached out to AEP Texas for more information regarding the cause of the outage, but have not yet heard back from their team. We will update our reporting as we learn more.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today!
