CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A powerful thunderstorm system swept through South Texas overnight, bringing strong wind gusts and lightning that left thousands of customers without electricity across the Coastal Bend region.
The severe weather system continued to dump heavy rainfall over the area Wednesday morning, with utility crews working around the clock to restore power to affected communities.
As of 9:30 a.m., approximately 14,700 customers remain without power throughout the region. While significant, this number represents progress from earlier in the morning when outages peaked at nearly 20,000 customers in the early hours of Wednesday.
AEP Texas field crews have been deployed across the region to assess damage and make necessary repairs.
The overnight storm brought dangerous conditions, with high winds and frequent lightning strikes, causing widespread disruptions to the electrical grid. Heavy rainfall continues to impact the area, potentially complicating restoration efforts, according to AEP.
Utility officials are urging residents to exercise extreme caution around storm damage, particularly downed power lines. Residents are advised to treat any downed power line as energized and dangerous, and to maintain a safe distance at all times.
"Please remember to stay away from downed power lines. Please consider any downed power line energized and dangerous," AEP Texas officials warned in their morning update.
Crews are working to restore the power, which could take several hours. If you are without power, you can check the status by going here.
AEP Texas urges all customers to remember the following safety guidelines:
- Consider any downed power line energized and dangerous. Do not touch anything in contact with the line, such as trees, fences, or puddles of water. Because of the likelihood that the storm may impact power lines, customers are asked to keep their children and pets inside during and after the storm. Also, stay at least ten feet away from any downed power line.
- Customers on life support systems or other medical equipment that rely on electricity are reminded to have a backup plan for situations where prolonged outages may occur.
- If you plan to use a portable generator, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Most, if not all, require that backup generators be located outside the home and away from open windows to prevent the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.
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