SHREVEPORT– Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) crews continue to maneuver through slush and mud in Central Louisiana to access some of the hardest hit areas of Sunday’s winter storm while making significant progress in East Texas.
Heavy wet, snow brought down trees and power lines in rural Central Louisiana, slowing power restoration to SWEPCO customers. Estimated restoration times for Central Louisiana have been moved to 10 p.m. Wednesday.
In East Texas, crews have made significant progress restoring power. Estimated restoration times for customers in Longview, Marshall and Carthage have been moved from Wednesday night to this evening.
“The quickest way to get restoration estimates for your home or business is to enroll in outage alerts through SWEPCO’s website,” said Drew Seidel, SWEPCO vice president of Region Distribution Operations.
As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, about 9,000 customers remained without power as crews continued to work as safely and quickly as possible to restore service. More than 400 tree and line personnel from SWEPCO, its sister company Public Service of Oklahoma, and outside contract crews continue to work to restore service. As work wraps in Northwest Louisiana, crews will move south to join those already deployed in Central Louisiana.
At the peak early Monday morning, about 60,400 customers were without power in Louisiana and East Texas.
SWEPCO estimates most Louisiana customers will be restored by 10 p.m. Wednesday and the majority of East Texas customers by 10 p.m. Tuesday. The following are updated estimated times of restoration by community. Estimates are for 95% of customers who can take power. Many customers’ power will be restored sooner.
Central Louisiana
Mansfield and Natchitoches: 10 p.m. Wednesday
East Texas
Henderson: noon Wednesday
Kilgore: 10 p.m. Wednesday
Always assume that any downed utility line is energized and stay away. Report downed lines immediately to SWEPCO at 1-888-218-3919.
If you use a portable or RV generator, do not plug the generator into your circuit box. Portable generators “backfeed” electricity up the line and risk the lives of repair workers and the public. Follow the manufacturers’ instructions carefully, and plug essential appliances directly into the generator.
How to report, track outages
Call 1-888-218-3919 to report your outage.