Credit: City of Carrollton

DALLAS — Severe thunderstorms hit North Texas early Tuesday morning, knocking out power for thousands of homes and businesses. By Wednesday afternoon, fallen power lines were continuing to complicate efforts to restore electricity, according to Oncor.

At the storm’s peak, Oncor reported over 335,000 customers without power as the storms stretched over hundreds of miles across its service area. The company cited heavy lightning and straight-line winds of 75-80 mph as the main causes of the significant damage in some areas.

Ahead of Ash Wednesday services, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Plano remained without power. The Catholic Diocese of Dallas confirmed that the church was holding services in its parish hall while Oncor crews worked to restore power.

By 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oncor had restored power to more than 315,000 customers, but about 17,000 outages remained. Crews were deployed as soon as weather conditions allowed, and restoration efforts were ongoing. Oncor reassured customers, saying, “We recognize the hardships and frustrations of extended power outages and remain focused on restoring power to all customers as soon as safely possible.”

Oncor expects to have power restored to most customers by Thursday night. However, in the hardest-hit areas, including McKinney, Irving, Farmers Branch, and parts of northern Dallas-Fort Worth, some residents may not see power back until Friday.

The outages were scattered across North Texas, with the hardest-hit areas including Collin County, where more than 160,000 people were without power, and Tarrant County, with nearly 30,000 outages. Dallas County and surrounding areas also saw widespread outages. By 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, the number of outages began to decrease, though strong winds continued to hamper restoration efforts.

The storms moved into North Texas around 4 a.m. and cleared out by 8 a.m., but winds remained strong throughout the day, further complicating the restoration process.

If your home or business is still without power, Oncor urges you to inspect your electric equipment for damage.

To report an outage, customers can text OUT to 66267, call 888-313-4747, use the MyOncor app, or visit the “Report an Outage” section on the map. Several power lines remain down across North Texas, and Oncor offers the following safety tips:

• If you see a downed power line, stay away and keep others, including pets, at a safe distance. Call 911 immediately. The downed line may still be energized, and anything touching it, such as a tree branch, could also be dangerous.
• Avoid removing debris or tree limbs near downed power lines, as they may be concealing live wires.
• Use caution when driving, especially in areas with fallen debris and non-functional streetlights.

For those without power, WFAA is providing live weather coverage through the video player above, on your phone, or via the WFAA mobile app.