Lightning illuminates the sky Sunday night over Austin. [NICK WAGNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]
More than 15,700 Austin Energy customers were without power Thursday evening as storms sweep through the Austin area. Austin Energy reported 43 active outages affecting 15,776 customers as of 7:30 p.m. The utility company reported that 97.33% of its customers still had power.
The largest outage shown on the map affected 3,488 customers east of Austin, near Hornsby Bend and Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park. It began at 7:16 p.m., with restoration estimated at 8:47 p.m. Other major outages affected 2,682 customers in North Austin near Heritage Hills and Walnut Creek, and 1,523 customers in Northwest Austin near River Place and Austin Lake Estates.
Crews had been assigned to the major outages, according to Austin Energy. The cause for each was listed as under investigation.
Austin Energy’s storm center warned that high winds, lightning and broken tree limbs can lead to localized outages. The utility reported nine hazards on its outage map as of the 7:30 p.m. update.
Customers without power can text OUT to 287846, use Austin Energy’s outage map or report an outage by calling 512-322-9100. Outage information is updated about every 10 minutes, and restoration estimates can change as crews assess damage.