Oncor: Goal is to fix nearly all Dallas County power outages by end of Wednesday

DALLAS - Oncor says the goal is to have nearly all power back on in Dallas County by Wednesday afternoon.

As of Wednesday night, more than 7,500 customers are still without power. At the peak on Sunday, there were more than 300,000 without power after a line of severe storms moved through.

Outside help arrived Tuesday as 2,500 electrical workers from 11 states arrived to assist Oncor workers in the restoration process.

“There’s a ton of people, a ton of trucks out there, so it looks like they’re working as hard as they can,” said Jacy Rader, who was still without power as of Tuesday.

Oncor says workers have had to rebuild some damaged power poles from scratch, which has added to the delay in restoring power.

Utility crews from around the country are working fast to fix the remaining power outages.

One power crew from Missouri is a long way from home.

You might say they’re the most important people to roll through a Northeast Dallas neighborhood since about 2 p.m. Sunday, when high winds blasted power poles and shredded massive trees.

“Without electricity, it’s kind of like camping out,” said Jim Crump, whose power was restored Wednesday.

The retired Dallas firefighter and former scout master powered his refrigerator and C-PAP machine with a $100 inverter.

“Hook it up to the battery. The alternator keeps the battery charged, keeps the juice flowing into the inverter, which turns it into AC from the DC the car uses,” Crump added.

While he’s “McGivered” through the worst of it, it was still a huge relief when 72 hours after Sunday’s storms, the crew behind his neighbor’s house worked their magic and flipped the switch for the entire street.

“Oh yes,” he said. “Oh my, it’s so much better.”

“Our goal is to have the vast majority of customers restored by late [Wednesday], but there are some with more extensive damage that will spread into Thursday,” said Kerri Dunn, with Oncor Commutations.

For those who may go yet another night in the dark, Oncor says it continues to work as quickly as possible.

“When our crews get out and have a chance to see the damage more extensively, that can change the restoration times,” Dunn added.

Crump says he’s grateful even if he did have an unexpected, extended at-home camping experience.

“God bless the guys on the line doing all the work. They don’t get anywhere near enough credit. That’s one of the most dangerous jobs in this nation and they are unsung heroes,” he added.

The outage is also having an impact on businesses. Some restaurant owners say they’ve had to remain closed for days or throw out food.

Cane Rosso in East Dallas said burglars took advantage of the situation. They said there was a break-in and their safe was stolen after the restaurant lost power and had to close Sunday.

Over at Canne Rosso, where thieves targeted the powerless pizzeria and stole the safe, fresh ingredients are in, power is on, and that means making up for lost time.

“I was very excited that we finally had power to get back to business,” said Todd Garton, with Canne Rosso.

The bulk of the remaining outages are in East Dallas and North Dallas.