As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, AEP Texas service crews continue working to restore power to approximately 2,000 Abilene area customers following high winds, rain and lightning occurring early Monday evening.   AEP Texas is projecting that 98 percent of those 2,000 customers will see their power restored by late tonight, if not sooner.  

Winds reaching 80 miles per hour along with heavy rains that caused flooded streets and underpasses wreaked havoc on the area.  The thunderstorms began about 6 p.m. Monday evening.  In less than an hour, the National Weather Service reported 2.14 inches at Abilene Regional Airport, with another 0.41 inch recorded the next hour.

The number of outages reached 24,500 around 9:15 p.m., as AEP Texas crews worked to restore power and complete initial damage assessments.   Restoration efforts brought the number of customers without power down to 17,780 by 11 p.m. and the number has continued to decline since then.  Service was restored to most of Dyess Air Force Base around midnight and to the remainder of the base by around 1 a.m.  Eight transmission lines serving the Abilene area were out of service as of 9:30 a.m., and assessors have confirmed that at least 30 distribution poles have been damaged by the high winds, and that number is expected to increase as the restoration activities and damage assessment continues.  All available local AEP Texas crews are working on the restoration effort and additional crews from surrounding areas also have been called in.  

Crews currently are focusing their activities on actions that will restore power to the most number of customers. These include replacing fuses, closing breakers, rerouting circuits and other activities. As new crews arrive, they will begin replacing poles and other equipment damaged by the storm.
All available local AEP Texas crews are working on the restoration effort and additional crews from surrounding areas also have been called in. continues.