January 10, 2025
From left: Storm damage in Texarkana, Texas, just before dawn; A home in Texarkana, Arkansas is damaged after Winter Storm Cora and ice accumulation brought down power lines in Arkansas.
SWEPCO teams are committed to repowering all customers; Initial assessments show icy effects
Before dawn, SWEPCO personnel continued their winter storm response, beginning the painstaking process of examining each damage site and determining the overall impact of Winter Storm Cora.
The storm blanketed the Texas Panhandle and northwest Arkansas with a blanket of snow on Thursday and blanketed much of the ArkLaTex in a wintry mix overnight. The storm delivered an icy blow to residents of the Texarkana, Texas and Arkansas areas. The icy impact wreaked havoc on power distribution systems as icy weights caused trees to buckle and branches to break wires.
While there was minimal impact in some parts of SWEPCO's service area, the Texarkana region suffered the most damage Thursday after 9 p.m.
Current reports indicate about 25,000 customers are without power, already down from the pre-dawn peak of 36,537.
Estimated Recovery Time (ETRs)
As part of SWEPCO's storm recovery assessment process, the company has shared estimated recovery times for areas impacted by the storm.
Based on the number of outages and available teams, we developed a global estimated recovery time (ETR). This is an estimate of how long it will take to restore 95% of all affected customers.
The greater the damage to the system, the further back in time the global ETR will be. Please note that these recovery times may change depending on the complexity of the repairs.
Customers who have signed up for email or SMS alerts could be notified directly of the estimated restoration time to their home or business as teams continue to work to restore power. To sign up to receive your personalized recovery update, visit swepco.com/alerts.
Today, January 10th, 5 p.m
- Shreveport area including Plain Dealing, Bossier City, Haughton and Vivian
- Longview area, including Marshall and Mineola
- Natchitoches area, including Mansfield, Hornbeck and Logansport
11:59 p.m. Saturday, January 11th
11:59 p.m. Sunday, January 12th
- Texarkana area, including the Arkansas communities of Ashdown, Texarkana, De Queen and Nashville, and Texarkana, Texas.
The icing event has delivered an icy blow, as predicted, and SWEPCO is committed to restoring power. No more than ½ inch of ice increases the weight of a stretch of power line between poles by up to 500 pounds, which is about the weight of a grizzly bear on the lines.
Patrols in the affected areas are ongoing and field reports confirm significant weather-related impacts, including ice accumulation and downed trees and power lines.
Learn more about our outage assessment and recovery processes.
SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
Keep the following safety guidelines in mind as the storm moves closer to our area in the coming days:
- All downed power lines should be considered live and dangerous. Do not touch anything that comes into contact with the line, e.g. E.g. trees, fences or puddles of water. Keep children and pets indoors during and after the storm. Maintain a distance of at least three meters from downed power lines.
- If you want to use a portable generator, always follow the manufacturer's instructions.
- Customers of life support systems or other medical equipment that rely on power should have a solid backup plan in place for areas where extended outages may occur.
SWEPCO will post updates and customers should sign up for outage alerts to receive helpful information. For more storm safety tips and suggestions on what to do before, during and after a storm, visit SWEPCO.com/Safety.
Additionally, for customers concerned about winter heating costs, SWEPCO provides tools and resources at SWEPCO.com/billhelp, and the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program can offer assistance to income-qualified residents. Winter heating applications are accepted in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Use the National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) Service to connect with your local LIHEAP office and find other available resources.
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