ARKANSAS, USA — Severe weather overnight left thousands without power in our area on Father's Day, June 18.
OG&E says the severe weather damaged "power poles, lines and equipment attached to poles," leaving many of its service areas without electricity. The storms also affected customers further in Oklahoma with Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) and Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO).
At around 6:30 a.m., OG&E reported 124,000 customers without power. The OG&E outage map currently shows 30,045 customers without power while PSO still shows 136,580. PSO says this is "the most significant restoration event since the 2007 ice storm. GRDA says while they are working on outages in their service areas, they are "still providing power to the majority of customers."
How long?
OG&E says its crews have been working on the issue since it took place. Due to lack of lighting, it wasn't until the sun came out the next morning, that crews were able to see more of the damage that couldn't be seen overnight and found "extensive impacts to equipment." OG&E says over 4,000 workers are working on the restoration.
As of Monday, OG&E says they have been able to successfully restore power for more than 80% of its customers. Crews spent at least two days reviewing the damage before they were able to provide an estimated restoration time. Because of the "significant damage", OGE&E says "this will be a multi-day power restoration event," and say power should be restored by Wednesday at 10 p.m. in our area.
The process:
OG&E says they work to restore power in the following order:
- Inspection of OG&E equipment and facilities
- Power plants
- Transmission Lines & Substation
- Power Lines
- Essential services such as hospitals, police stations and fire departments
- Neighborhoods
- Individual homes
Safety
OG&E warns customers of downed power lines. They say they may still have electricity and are dangerous. OG&E says you should stay away from them and "anything they are touching." Customers are also asked to avoid trying to approach OG&E workers and vehicles. OGE&E says approaching them "could jeopardize their safety and could delay the restoration process."
To report a downed power line, you can call 1-800-552-6870.
Upcoming extreme heat
Because some people may not see a restoration for more than a couple of days, this can impact their access to an air-conditioned environment.
OG&E offers these safety tips to help during the heat:
- Drink plenty of water.
- Open windows and curtains to allow airflow.
- Use handheld fans if available.
- Wear lightweight and breathable clothing.
- Check on elderly family members, neighbors and pets to check that they are safe in this heat, too.
- Customers who rely on life-sustaining electrical equipment should contact their doctor for guidance.
- If a customer does not have power or needs access to an air-conditioned environment, you can go to one of OG&E’s Cool Zones. Click here to access that list.
- Customers can also call 2-1-1 for information about food and housing assistance, mental health resources, healthcare programs and other human services.
What else can I do?
OG&E says customers can report outages in the following ways:
- Online at OGE.com/outages.
- Those signed up to myOGEalerts can text the word "OUT" to 32001.
- By calling 1-800-522-6870.
If you have already reported the outage and are waiting for restoration, you can monitor the outages on the OG&E map. While you're waiting, OG&E says it is a good idea to make sure your property does not have anything that can impede crews to access the property. This includes anything that is within your control such as pets.
OG&E says its crews will remove tree limbs or debris that are in the way of the power line and put them on the curb. OG&E is not in charge of throwing them away as they are quickly trying to move on to the next customer in need.
To view this map live, click here.
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