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UPDATE: During Tuesday’s press conference, officials said that around 126,000 homes were still without power. At its peak, that number was as high as 922,000.
“Our employees are members of this community as well,” Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said. “We are working very diligently to get everything restored.”
KPRC 2 is receiving emails and calls from viewers reporting inaccuracies in the updated CenterPoint outage map. Many are saying that when they input their address, the map indicates their service has been restored, but they are still without power.
Answer: KPRC 2 contacted CenterPoint and spoke with Joshua Solis from CenterPoint Media Relations.
According to CenterPoint, there could be various reasons why the outage map shows a customer’s service as restored when they still lack power.
“First, we want to remind customers to check for damage to their equipment to ensure they can receive service as soon as the system is energized. Customers should check their weatherhead, the point where power enters the home through an electric service drop, typically a pipe on the side of the residence or building. If the weatherhead is damaged, we cannot safely restore service to the home until a licensed electrician makes the necessary repairs,” Solis said. “Customers with underground service will not have a weatherhead, but there may still be damage to their equipment that requires servicing.”
If customers find no damage to their equipment, they might be experiencing a “nested outage.”
“This occurs when, even after fixing the main issue, smaller problems still cause outages in specific areas. If a customer is potentially affected by a ‘nested outage,’” Solis explained. “We thank our customers for their patience as we continue to restore service as safely and quickly as possible.”
CenterPoint customers can call 713-207-2222 for more assistance.
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