The Biden administration declared a disaster for Dallas County Wednesday in the wake of last week's severe storms that knocked out power for about half a million people, according to County Judge Clay Jenkins.
The disaster declaration allows affected areas to apply for federal assistance through FEMA. The administration also opened up disaster recovery centers in Denton, Eastland and Waller counties.
"This will bring much needed assistance to our Dallas County residents who are still recovering from the severe storms and straight-line winds,” Jenkins wrote in a statement.
For assistance with things like temporary housing, home repairs, property loss and other expenses, homeowners and renters can apply online, download the FEMA App or call 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., according to FEMA.
County officials said last week it could take weeks to finish cleanup in the wake of the storms. Oncor Electric has spent days repairing most of the outages, though by Wednesday evening thousands of people in North Texas were still without power.
Praying for power
Earlier this week, Chastity Lopez sat outside her Balch Springs home watching Oncor workers attempt to fix power lines on her street, finding more comfort outside than inside her home without working A/C.
Lopez had been without power for more than a week. Despite a brief respite Thursday night, with another storm sweeping through, her neighborhood lost power again Tuesday morning.
As the workers focused intently on their repairs, Lopez clasped her hands together in prayer.
"Please bring us back our power already," she said.
Lopez and thousands of other frustrated North Texans were still struggling with sporadic power outages even as tens of thousands more had their power completely restored over the weekend.
Her neighborhood in Dallas County was impacted as multiple streets waited for power to return.
It's not clear why her neighborhood lost power again. Oncor did not confirm the precise reason for the outage, but spokesperson Grant Cruise did say the company sometimes initiates “temporary safety driven outages” as crews restore power to nearby impacted areas.
John Gaddis, 32, sat next to Lopez. He was without power since losing it for the second time around 9 a.m. that day. He's on a fixed income with a disability and lost about $150 worth of food. He couldn't afford to buy new groceries, so he spent the last week eating non-perishable items like canned foods and bread. Gaddis is concerned this won’t be the last time this happens this summer.
“This isn't even the first time this year I've lost power here for a day or two,” Gaddis said.
His concerns were heightened by anxiety over the state of the Texas power grid. Texas is the only state to have its own independent grid from the rest of the country, and though the past week's outages were not due to grid failure, it brought up memories of previous failures like the winter storm of 2021 — and he said it made him prepare for the worst.
Gaddis has experienced multiple outages since January. In his neighborhood, there a lot of elderly people living alone and he's concerned as this summer’s weather is projected to hover around 100 degrees daily.
“If this were to happen a month from now, people may die,” Gaddis said.
The road to recovery
Lopez said she also lost food and had to pay for a large tree that fell in front of her house to be removed. After a few days without power and lack of resources from the city, she decided to pay for a hotel.
“The city knew some of us had power, but others still didn’t,” Lopez said. "There were trees everywhere. We had trees in the road and they just left us out here to be hot with our kids.”
Landfill companies across North Texas have seen thousands of tons of debris from broken trees since last week and continue to make their way across cities to pick up more.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 57,000 customers across Texas were without power. Dallas County had as many as 2,000 customers without power earlier Wednesday, but that number eventually dropped below 1,000.
Melissa Smith and her husband are retired and were home when they heard the power go out on their street. They were using a generator since last week’s outage.
The couple also kept multiple neighbors’ perishable foods in their refrigerator and freezer for five days until the power was restored Sunday. But when it went out again two days later, most of her neighbors had already left for work.
“People can't afford to replace their food again,” Smith said. “Everything they got is going back in the trash.”
The utility company said they are not financially responsible for food customers lost amid the storms. There is no current estimation when power will be fully restored on the company's website.
Smith hoped the power would return not just for herself, but her neighbors, too.
“I feel so sorry for them it makes me want to cry,” Smith said. "Because they're our friends and they're our neighbors and there’s nothing we can do.”
Penelope Rivera is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Penelope at privera@kera.org.
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