Water service restored in Richardson after power outage leads to critical shortage

Severe weather leads to huge power flash in Arlington

Linda Sheldon was driving in Arlington when she was taken by surprise by an enormous power flash

RICHARDSON, Texas - Some Richardson residents were asked to stop using water, except for emergencies, after severe storms led to a power outage at two of its water pumping stations.

On Thursday evening, the city asked all residents who live west of Highway 75 to stop using their water after a loss of backup power services to its North Side and West Side water pumping stations.

Richardson was worried that it would run out of water if customers did not stop using it immediately.

"The city does have a backup power system designed to provide power in case of a widespread outage like the one experienced, but the system failed during the storm. The cause of the failure is being investigated," Richardson said in a news release.

The city reached out to Oncor about restoring power as quickly as possible.

That power was restored just before 10 p.m., allowing the city to begin pumping water to refill storage tanks.

The system is now back to normal and residents can use water as usual.