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Austin Energy: Customers should prepare not to have power through Tuesday night—and maybe longer
16 February
(Christa McWhirter)
After nearly 36 hours of widespread power outages impacting around 40% of customers, Austin Energy provided a midday update Tuesday that means another very cold night for some Austinites, who should not expect to have power through Tuesday night and "possibly longer," the local utility tweeted.
AE's outage map showed that 205,958 customers were impacted as of 12:45 p.m., with other local energy companies also reporting widespread outages.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages 90% of the state's power supply, provided intermittent updates Tuesday, saying that it had directed some local utilities to restore power to households but also that frigid temperatures continued to cause problems.
"While ERCOT says conditions are improving, we want customers to know this is a dynamic situation + conditions re changing throughout the day," Austin Energy wrote.
EMERGENCY OUTAGE UPDATE at 12:30 p.m.:
While @ERCOT_ISO says conditions are improving, we want customers to know this a dynamic situation + conditions are changing throughout the day.
⚡Customers should be prepared to not have power through Tuesday night and possibly longer. 1/4
— Austin Energy (@austinenergy) February 16, 2021
Hundreds of thousands of Austinites face a second night without power—and perhaps also without water or internet access—amid subfreezing temperatures. Residents report that they're stuck in homes hovering around 40 degrees and moving between their cars to warm up.
Four warming centers are now open.
- Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Road
- Mendez Middle School, 5106 Village Square Dr.
- Northeast Early College High School, 7104 Berkman Dr.
- Del Valle High School, 5201 Ross Road
Due to high demand and limited capacity, these centers are intended for the city's most vulnerable populations, especially those who have medical devices that require electricity to operate.
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Austonia file photo. (Christa McWhirter/Austonia)
Police have arrested one of two suspects involved in a mass shooting at Austin's Sixth Street in the early morning hours on Saturday, leaving 14 people injured and two in critical condition.
The arrest was made by the Austin Police Department and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. One suspect is still at large.
Police started receiving 911 phone calls at 1:24 a.m about a man that fired shots into a large crowd, and responded to a chaotic scene on the 400 block of East Sixth Street. Detectives are surveying video footage captured by bystanders and cameras on the scene to identify the suspect.
The Austin Police Department has narrowed down their search to two male suspects and believes there was "some type of disturbance" between the two parties.
No deaths have been reported. Fourteen victims are receiving treatment in a hospital in stable condition with one treated in an emergency room; two are in critical condition.
According to Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon, "almost all" of the victims are innocent bystanders but police have not ruled anyone out at this time.
Shooting on 6th Street Austin Texas 6-12-2021 (Aftermath) youtu.be
The shooting occurred on the weekend of the Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally. With lots of people downtown, police say it was difficult to get EMS in and out of the scene. Police arrived while the scene was still an "active threat," officers "immediately began lifesaving measures" and drove six victims to the hospital in their squad cars, said Chacon, and four were transported in ambulances.
Chacon said that the incident is believed to be isolated, and they optimistic they will be successful in getting the two suspects into custody. Multiple departments, including APD, the FBI, Texas DPS and the ATF, are involved in the investigation.
Austin police are also requesting state troopers for patrol assistance in the coming days. Chacon stressed staffing issues are increasingly making responding to emergency calls "very hard."
"Overall, we remain a safe city," Chacon said. "Also keep in mind when you come downtown, you need to be safety conscious. Be vigilant of your environment and your surroundings."
Today marks the five-year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in which 49 were killed and 53 wounded in Orlando, Florida. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call 911 or 512-472-TIPS.
This story was updated at 2:47 p.m. to include new information and will be updated as more details are revealed.
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Austin police are investigating a homicide in North Austin where a woman was shot and killed, just hours after a mass shooting in Downtown Austin hospitalized 14 people.
APD is working a suspicious death near the 1900 block of W Rundberg Ln. PIO is en route and will update with media staging location. PIO6
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) June 12, 2021
Police originally responded to Ironhorse Flats Apartments, 1900 block of W. Rundberg Lane, at 3:20 p.m. when they found the woman with multiple gunshot wounds. She was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 4:07 p.m.
No one is in custody as of yet but police are speaking with potential witnesses. Officials said they believe this was an isolated incident with no danger to the public but said possible relation to the downtown shooting has not been specifically ruled out.
Officers could not provide a suspect description and the relationship to the victim is still unknown.
This is a developing story that will be updated as details become available.
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