EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso Electric has identified five areas in the Borderland that were the hardest hit by power outages during Sunday’s wind and dust storm.
Those areas were Northeast El Paso, the Clint area, Central El Paso, Santa Teresa and Las Cruces.
At the peak of the winds at about 1 p.m. Sunday, about 39,000 customers were without power, said Omar Gallegos, vice president of transmission and distribution for El Paso Electric.
By 8 p.m. Sunday, 33,000 customers had their power restored, he added.
By Monday morning, just 1,000 customers needed their power restored but those customers were all in clusters of 10 or fewer homes or businesses, Gallegos said. Crews will have to visit about 80 locations to turn the power back on for those customers, he added.
El Paso Electric practices and trains for large-scale outages like this and was not surprised by the scope of the outages or the damage the wind caused, Gallegos said.
About 100 personnel were ready to get to work when the winds hit Sunday around noon, Gallegos said. They were helped by 30 out-of-town contractors.
Those contractors allowed EPE crews who had been working for 16 hours straight to get some rest without having to halt restoration efforts, Gallegos said.
