Photo by Jim Rain.
Tuesday night, Oncor teams and partners restored power to over 30,000 homes and businesses in Dallas, said councilwoman Paula Blackmon. Nearly 5,000 additional personnel have been deployed to help with the outage issue, the restoration is estimated to be complete by Friday evening, harder hit areas are expected to be restored Saturday.
The news comes nearly 30 hours after North Texas was struck by severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings on Tuesday, May 28, at 6 a.m. A trail of damage knocked out various power lines, resulting in over half a million homes and businesses without power.
The same day, at 11:30 a.m., Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins issued a disaster declaration and posted on X that this issue would be a multi-day power outage.
Sanitation crews are still navigating through the aftermath as some streets and alleyways remain blocked due to down trees, because of this, garbage and recycle collections are being delayed to the following day for each route.
Public Works has crews working throughout the city responding to 311 calls. The crews are cutting up large trees and moving them to the curb for Sanitation Brush Buster crews to remove.
Sanitation asks for property owners and controllers to clear streets and alleys from any debris originating from their property. Down trees may also be reported to 311 by phone or online.
Individuals may place storm debris into two piles on their curbs, one for vegetative yard debris and the other for storm debris such as building materials.
Up to 20-cubic yards will be collected at no additional cost. Any amount over this limit placed at the curb and collected by Sanitation will be billed $60 per five cubic yards, billed in five cubic yard increments, according to the city.
Debris cleanup may take several months to collect before returning to a “normal brush and bulky item collection schedule.” All Dallas residents may self-haul waste to the landfill or a transfer station at no cost.
Thousands of  East Dallas residents are still experiencing power outages. For those without power, the City of Dallas is offering respite centers, located at nearby libraries and recreation centers.
Officials are still encouraging residents to keep children and pets inside as it’s not safe to be outside around downed power lines. They also mention to move debris yet as there could be hidden downed power lines that are still energized.
