It could take up to a week to restore power to customers experiencing outages during the storm.
John C Moritz Austin Bureau USA TODAY NETWORK|Corpus Christi
Power was lost to thousands of residents in the Corpus Christi area as the first winds from Hurricane Harvey began lashing at the Gulf Coast on Friday.
The number kept growing into the afternoon and Nueces County Judge Lloyd Neal had warned even before the first loss of electric service was reportedit might take three days to a week for crews to restore power because of the expected ferocity and duration of the storm.
More: Report a power outage to AEP
Nueces Electric Co-op customers should call361-387-2581 to report a power outage. San Patricio Co-op members should call 361-364-2220 or 888-740-2220.
Here's a timeline showing the poweroutages:
WEDNESDAY
9 p.m.: About 94,000 customers remainedwithout power in the Coastal Bend.
AEP Texas has more than 4,600 personnelfrom around the nation working to restore power in the areas that lost power after Hurricane Harvey.
Shown below is a breakdown of areas with the largest concentration of remaining outages.
Aransas Pass – Rockport Area 37,250
Corpus Christi 25,350
Victoria 13,300
Port Lavaca 13,500
Sinton 1,100
El Campo 2,900
Beeville 420
Kenedy 150
5:30 p.m.:An estimated107,000 customers are without power in the Coastal Bend.
On Saturday, 220,000 customers were without power in the region.
Shown below is a breakdown of areas with the largest concentration of remaining outages.
Aransas Pass – Rockport Area41,900
Corpus Christi29,500
Victoria17,300
Port Lavaca13,500
Sinton 1,600
El Campo3,000
Beeville420
Kenedy 130
TUESDAY
9 p.m.: An estimated116,000customers are without power in the Coastal Bend.
Saturday, 220,000 customers were without power in the region.
Shown below is a breakdown of areas with the largest concentration of remaining outages.
Aransas Pass – Rockport Area41,400
Corpus Christi34,400
Victoria19,400
Port Lavaca13,700
Sinton2,000
El Campo3,700
Beeville1,000
Kenedy260
Noon:About 133,600 customers are still without power in the Coastal Bend.
AEP crews are continuing their efforts to clear power lines and other hazards and restore power to buildings such as hospitals and water treatment plants, according to a news release. AEP Texas estimated at leat 2,100 utility poles and 55 transmition structures were damaged or knocked down during Hurricane Harvey’s passage through the Texas Coast.
Crews are working 14 to 16 hour days to meet the estimated time of 95 percent restoration, which is 10 p.m. Sept. 2.
Dates and times for restoration in Rockport, Aransas Pass, Port Aransas, Fulton, Woodsboro, Port Lavaca, Lamar and Bayside are still undetermined. Damage assessment is ongoing in those areas and an estimated time will be developed once the assessment is completed, the release states.
AEP also estimates that by 10 p.m. Wednesday, power will be restored to 95 percent of customers in Corpus Christi and the Sinton area.
As of Monday afternoon, crews reactivated 40 circuit breakers and about 146 circuit breakers remained off line, the release states. Crews also are working to get 55 transmission lines back in service primarily in Corpus Christi. Service has been restored to 21 out of 44 substations.
“We are working to reduce the number of hazard tickets; however, we’re facing hundreds of down power lines, as well utility poles damaged by the storm,” said Tom Coad, AEP Texas vice president of Distribution Region Operations. “Currently there are nearly 4,400 hazard tickets still being addressed throughout the Coastal Bend area and approximately 2,600 in Corpus Christi alone. We know that customers are concerned about these hazards, and we are trying to get each one as quickly as possible. Please continue to treat any downed line as energized and dangerous. If you have not already reported the situation, please call 1-866-223-8508. Also, please supervise children and pets when outdoors.”
Outage breakdown as of noon Tuesday:
Aransas Pass – Rockport Area 42,800
Corpus Christi 45,700
Victoria 19,200
Port Lavaca 14,200
Sinton 3,000
El Campo 5,800
Beeville 1,700
Kenedy 900
MONDAY
8:30 p.m.: AEP crews reduced the number of outages to about 135,400.
Shown below is a breakdown of the areas with the highest concentration of outages in the Coastal Bend.
Aransas Pass – Rockport Area42,700
Corpus Christi47,300
Sinton 3,600
Beeville 2,100
4:45 p.m.: Nueces Electric Cooperative had yet to restore serviceto its last34 members left without power.
Crews began work to restore power about 1 p.m. Saturday, and in the first 24 hours about 6,000 members had power restored, according to a news release.
“Our crews have continued to work around the clock for the past three days in order to get our members’ power restored as soon as possible,” Avan Irani, NEC Assistant General Manager said in a news release. “We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from our members during this difficult time. Since there is still some damage in our service area, please remember that if you see any downed power lines, please contact the cooperative as soon as possible and stay at least fifteen feet away from them. Any information on fallen trees, broken poles and damaged lines is greatly appreciated.”
SUNDAY
10:03 p.m.:AEP Texas crews had reduced the number of outages resulting from Hurricane Harvey to 160,000 as of 8 p.m. on Sunday. That number compares with the 220,000 consumers left without power at the peak of outages, which occurred at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Shown below is a breakdown of the areas with the highest concentration of outages.
Aransas Pass – Rockport Area 46,000
Corpus Christi 65,000
Victoria 21,800
Port Lavaca 14,000
Sinton 5,000
El Campo 3,400
Beeville 2,400
Kenedy 2,000
4:40 p.m. Major Update. This is the latest directly from AEP:
"AEP Texas projects that by Wednesday at 10 p.m. crews will have restored power to 95 percent of the customers within the City of Corpus Christi, as well as the Sinton area.
"Restorationdates and times are still to be determined for Rockport, Port Aransas, Fulton, Woodsboro, Port Lavaca, Lamar and Bayside. The devastation in those communities was the most extreme and will require the most amount of repairs. The damage assessment will continue in those areas, and an estimated time of restoration will be developed when that assessment is completed.
"Restoration for the majority of all other areas is expected to reach the 95 percent completion level by 10 p.m. on Saturday. Those cities include Victoria, Beeville El Campo, and Kenedy."
AEP emphasized that all times are estimations.
8:24 a.m.:More than 182,000 across the region are without power, according to latestAEP Texas reports.
SATURDAY
6:50 p.m.:AEP Texas anticipates it will have having a projection on when the bulk of power restored Sunday, according to a company news release.
“We anticipate issuing a preliminary (estimate) on Sunday, which will project the completion date for restoration of service to 95 percent of those who lost power at the storm’s peak,” said Tom Coad, AEP Texas vice president of Distribution Region Operations. “Our primary objective is to restore electric service to all customers as safely and quickly as possible and to provide timely and accurate updated information to customers affected by service interruptions.”
As of 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, about 210,000 customers in Corpus Christi and surrounding areas did not have electric service.
Aransas Pass: 47,000
Corpus Christi Southside Area: 40,000
Corpus Christi Midtown Area: 45,000
Corpus Christi Northwest Area: 6,500
Victoria: 30,000
Port Lavaca: 14,000
El Campo: 11,000
Sinton: 8,000
Customers are asked to report downed power lines and other potentially dangerous situations by calling 1-866-223-8508. All power lines should be considered energized and dangerous.
Residents can track progress on the restoration effort by visiting the outage area at www.aeptexas.com.
5:55 p.m.:San Patricio Electric and contract crews have restored power to 1,200 people and have about 6,900 meters without power as of 5 p.m., a news release states.
“There is extensive damage throughout our service area and it will take time to repair our system and fully restore power to everyone. Some people will experience lengthy outages because of the damage, especially those in the Beeville and Skidmore areas,” the release from San Patricio Electric notes.
Every crew member available is working to restore power.
Anyone who has an outage, or sees downed poles and or wires should call 888-740-2220.
Get updates information at www.sanpatricioelectric.org.
5 p.m.: The AEP outage website is reporting more than 204,000 customers without power statewide, most along the coast. Nearly 95,330 customers are without power in Nueces County, 25,745 are down in Victoria County, 25,600 in San Patricio County and 18,947 are out in Aransas County.
11:30 a.m.Major Update: AEP saysweather conditions have improved butwind conditions must be below 30 mphhour before the bucket trucks can be used to address downed power lines. And there remains the possibility of flooding over the next few days.
“Right now, we are trying to determine if we can safely let crews begin this first step,” said Tom Coad, AEP Texas vice president of Distribution Region Operations. At the same time, in areas where it is safe to do so, we will instruct our damage assessors to begin activities to determine the extent of the damage inflicted by Hurricane Harvey.”
Meanwhile,utilities are down still in Aransas Pass. It is not safe to return home and unfortunately, the extent of the damage is unknown, according to the Aransas Pass Police Department.
San Patricio Electric Co-op says there were more than 8,100 meters without power, mostly in Bee County and San Patricio County.
"Harvey is slowly making its way through our service area and conditions are still not safe for our linemen to work. We will continue waiting until we can safely send our employees out into the field," the co-op said.
10:45 a.m.: The outage number in Nueces County reaches 103,170. No word yet from AEP on restoration efforts.
9:30 a.m.: Larry Jones of AEP says he'll have some info to push out soon on efforts to bring power back in the affected areas. Meanwhile, power outage numbers have been holding fairly steady over the past 90 minutes or so (knock wood). AEP's number for Nueces County is up to 101,179. San Patricio County clocks in at 25,140. Victoria County reports 21,097 and Aransas County stands at 18,996.
7:49 a.m.: The power outage number in Nueces County is now at six figures. AEP says 100,194 are without power. In Aransas County, home to Rockport, 18,996 are without power.
7:05 a.m.: Back-of-the-envelope math shows that more than 162,000 AEP customers along the Coastal Bend and the counties immediately inland woke up Saturday facing power outages. The link above shows how to report a power outage.
6:38 a.m.:The City of Corpus Christi is asking all residents toreduce the use of their toilets and faucets becausepower outages have affectedthe Wastewater Treatment Plants.The city will notify residents when the plants are back in operation.
6:30a.m.: 99,587 without power as the sun is about to rise in Nueces County. 24,951 in San Patricio County.
FRIDAY
11:36 p.m.: AEP is reporting 32,356 customers in Nueces County without power. San Patricio County shows 12,314 customers out, Aransas County has 8,602 customers out, Bee County shows 1,996 customers out and Refugio County has 1,023 out.
10:30 p.m.:AEP now reporting a reversal of fortunate for Nueces County power customers. From a high of 42,000 or more almost an hour and half ago, now the number stands at 37,996.
10:10 p.m.: Let's recap. In the AEP area along the Coastal Bend. the outage number approaches 67,000. Most are in Nueces County, where the number is north of 40,000. San Patricio County shows 12400-plus in the dark. Bee County has more than 1,850 outages and Calhoun County's number is 1,350.
9:53 p.m.: The outage number in less-populated Aransas County is starting to inch up, now at 8,610.
9:34 p.m.:AEP just adjusted the Nueces Countyoutage numbers downward. Now it stands at 40,477. We're checking if areas regained power or if the 9:12 p.m. was inflated. Stay tuned.
9:12 p.m.:The outage number keeps growing and growing. In Nueces County, it stands at 42,485. San Patricio County reports 14,361. Check back. These numbers are likely to change.
8:10 p.m. This from the Nueces Electric Cooperative:
"The latest estimate that approximately 1,900 members in the rural areas outside of Corpus Christi are without power. However, NEC anticipates that as the storm progresses into the area, that number will greatly increase.
"NEC will not be able to begin damage assessment or restoration until after the storm has passed for the safety of our crews. Therefore, members can expect prolonged outages that can last for many days depending on the severity of the damage."
And this from San Patricio Electric Co-op:
"At approximately 7 p.m. this evening we had just over 1700 members without power, the majority of which are in Bee County and San Patricio County. Conditions are not safe for our linemen to work, and we will be waiting for the storm to pass before beginning any restoration efforts. Once the storm has passed, we will conduct a damage assessment and make a plan to restore power to each and every one of our members."
6:44 p.m.: The outage number spikesto 33,869 in Nueces County and to 11,838 in San Patricio. In Aransas County, 1,116 customers were without power.
5:21 p.m.: In the past hour and a half, the number of outages in Nueces County has more than doubled. The total, which has been rising steadily, stands at 27,635.
4:57 p.m.: in the last 10 minutes the outage number in Nueces County zoomed to 24,820. San Patricio reports 5,083 without power.
4:47 p.m.: The number of customers without power in Nueces County keeps climbing. It's now at 21,035.
4:26 p.m.: The outage report jumped to 18,499 in Nueces County but was holding steady with 3,907 in San Patricio. AEP's coverage area is concentrated in Southeast Texas but has pockets of service in Central Texas and in the western part of the state. Systemwide, the outages numbered 26,174, so more than 60 percent of the system's customers without power are in the Coastal Bend.
4 p.m.: North and South of Nueces and San Patricio counties, AEP reports only minor outages -- only 34 in Kleberg County and 34 in Aransas County.
3:41 p.m.:AEP reports11,894 customers in Nueces County without electricity. In San Patricio County, the number was 3,900.
3:20 p.m.:Power is out at the KIII-TV station, located at 5002 South Padre Island Drive, according to a social media post by Sean Kelly, a meteorologist with the station.
2:35 p.m.:AEP is reporting more than 10,280 customers are without power along the Texas Coast. The bulk of the outages are in Corpus Christi. Nearly 9,340 customers in Nueces County are listed without power. AEP crews are staging to help as soon as it's safe.
More: AEP map showing power outages
