Dallas County declares disaster, extends voting hours after storms knock out power for thousands (2024)

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins signed a disaster declaration and the county extended its voting hours until 9 p.m. as hundreds of thousands of people remained without power Tuesday evening due to severe storms.

The severe weather knocked out power at some local polling locations, forcing them to delay opening Tuesday morning. The Dallas County Election Department said keeping the polls open late would ensure all eligible voters could cast a ballot despite those disruptions.

That also means tentative results won't be available until after 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Kaufman and Rockwell counties have extended voting hours to 8 p.m.

In total, almost a half million customers were still without electricity across North Texas as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to an Oncor outage tracker.

The bulk of those outages — more than 292,000 — were in Dallas County.

Jenkins said during a press conference the storms would likely lead to multi-day outages.

"This, unfortunately, will be a multi-day power outage situation similar to the one that you saw in Harris County and Houston," Jenkins said. "That does not mean if your power is out right now, that it will be out for multiple days. It certainly could be out for multiple days."

Ed Timms

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Severe storms ripped through North Texas over Memorial Day weekend and continued Tuesday, bringing hail, damaging winds and heavy rain.

Oncor teams were sent out in the morning to assess damages, clear debris and conduct repair work across impacted areas. Work began as soon as it was safe and is expected to continue around the clock, Oncor officials said in a social media post.

During Jenkins' press conference on Tuesday, Grant Cruise, Oncor communications manager, said Oncor is asking for assistance from out of state to help with restoration efforts.

"We are working quickly, we are trying to bring people into the state and keep everybody safe," Cruise said. "But you should plan for, you know, extended outages in some parts."

The severe weather is forecast for the area until early afternoon Tuesday and expected to return Tuesday night.

Here's what’s been impacted by the storms in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties.

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Outages

Power outages left more than 477,000 Oncor customers without power in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties combined.

Unlike grid issues caused by intense heat in the summer or severe winter storms, the outages were not due to overcapacity power generation straining the grid. The outages were due to the winds, which was not uncommon, Jenkins said. However, he said the extent of the damage was unusual.

Jenkins said Oncor would prioritize critical infrastructure like hospitals and police stations.

As of noon, all hospitals except one had power, and the one that did not have power was operating on a generator, Jenkins said. Only life saving procedures would be conducted while a hospital is on generator power, he said.

Water plants were not impacted by the severe weather and Jenkins said residents do not need to worry about the cleanliness of their water.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday Denton and Collin counties were approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for eligibility for its individual assistance program.

The program provides funds for temporary housing, emergency home repairs, property losses and other expenses caused by a disaster.

Elections

Outages also impacted polling locations in some counties — on the last day to vote in the primary runoff elections.

In Collin County six polling locations were closed, at least two of which had no electricity. The location at Community Park Center in Wylie was rerouted to Collin College in Wylie. More than 100 voting centers faced outages in Dallas County.

Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano had to be relocated because winds blew a portion of the roof off the church. The polling site was relocated to Career Center East in Lewisville.

Frank Phillips, Denton County elections administrator, said in an email that several sites were without power until they were able to get generators to the locations.

He said the county would also ask for extended hours at the locations that opened late due to the outages, although as of Tuesday evening it was not clear whether the hours were extended.

"As soon as the Republican and Democratic parties approve those locations, I will be seeking approval from a district judge to extend voting this evening at those locations," Phillips said in the email.

Travel

Severe storms on Tuesday impacted flight operations at both Dallas Love Field and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Both airlines cautioned travelers coming to and from the airports and advised them to check flight statuses for delays and cancelations.

KERA’s Caroline Love and Bekah Morr contributed to this report.

Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona atmcardona@kera.org.

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