TXU: 2,000 customers without power

By Rich Flowers

May 16, 2008 10:10 am

— Storms that struck Athens and the surrounding area Wednesday and Thursday snapped tree limbs and did other minor damage.
Encore Electric repair crews were scattered around the area restoring service both days.
TXU Electric Delivery Area Manager Brenda Walker said it took several hours to get the lights back on in the affected areas.
“I talked with our operations personnel and they said the storm moved through at about 1:30 a.m,” Walker said. “At the height of the storm we had about 2,000 customers without power.”
Walker said the areas without lights were scattered throughout the city.
Power had been restored to most of the locations by 5 a.m. By late afternoon there were no outstanding outages, she added.
“They worked throughout the night to restore power and we were very lucky that we didn’t have more outages or damage than we did,” Walker said.
Walker was hopeful forecasts for drier, more pleasant weather through the weekend hold true and give power crews a breather.
“We’re still in the season where we see the most severe weather though,” Walker said.
Wednesday, pockets of Athens residents remained without power throughout much of the day. Cain Center awaited restoration for several hours and according to employees closed its doors at about 3 p.m. Power was back on at the center by opening time Thursday morning.
The Athens Police Department received several calls Wednesday beginning at around 3 a.m., from businesses whose alarms had been set off by the effects of the front that moved through the city. Thursday, APD reports showed no storm or power related calls.
According to the National Weather Service, the storms that came through Thursday moved more swiftly than the Wednesday round and dropped less rain in the area. Wednesday storms tracked through east Texas brought Athens’ heaviest rainfall in months.