Northwest Austin family goes over 24 hours without power

A mother and daughter in Northwest Austin were without power for over 24 hours, the longest outage they say they've ever had.

AUSTIN, Texas - A Northwest Austin family spent approximately 27 hours without power.

Carla Birnberg and her daughter Emma Harrison lost power around 3 p.m. Thursday. Their power came back on at approximately 6 p.m. Friday. "I am so, so grateful," Birnberg told FOX 7.

Birnberg says outages are common in the wooded Northwest Hills neighborhood, so the two prepared. They charged their devices in advance. Still, after 27 hours their preparation meant little. "There’s a limit when it’s cold to what you can really do to prepare," said Birnberg.

The outage created problems as Birnberg attempted to work from home. "I had to cancel all my calls, then it’s the struggle of rescheduling, money loss, it just becomes a cascade." Of course, there was also the question of morning coffee. "I will freely admit I got up this morning and ran the hot water until it was lukewarm and dumped in some, this is me, I dumped in some instant coffee tubes," she laughed.

Texas road crews continue to monitor driving conditions

Crews have been in place since Wednesday night treating roads ahead of and during this winter weather advisory.

Harrison, a freshman in high school struggled with her remote school work. "I have no way of contacting anybody telling them that I’m not able to turn anything in," she explained.

Birnberg and Harrison are not alone. Thousands of Central Texans lost power this week as cool temperatures and storms swept the region. "It’s so long that I have to think that they’ve forgotten about us," Birnberg told FOX 7 Austin around 3 p.m. Friday.

Still, Birnberg said the worst part of the outage was the "confusion." Birnberg and her neighbors received texts from Austin Energy telling them their power was back on when it was not. Around 3 p.m. Friday she received a message telling her to reset her breaker. "It didn’t work." she frowned. Power came on roughly three hours later.

FOX 7 Austin contacted Austin Energy for clarity on the messages and an Austin Energy spokesperson responded with the following statement:

"We recognize that many of our customers have been without power for an extended amount of time. We know this is frustrating. We are currently reviewing issues associated with our Outage Map and notifications. These issues may stem from an instance where one small outage area is part of a larger outage area. As each segment is repaired, those customers are restored, and the system may register that restoration as complete when there are still smaller outages that need to be addressed. This is sometimes reflected in the text messages customers may receive. If a customer has questions about their outage status, they can call 512-322-9100.

When extended power outage occurs at your home or business, anyone signed up for our Outage Text Alert will be notified of the outage. However, due to the large number of outages we are currently experiencing, Austin Energy is suspending text alerts with restoration times as our priorities may fluctuate depending on number of customers affected, current weather conditions and resources. We appreciate our community’s patience as we work to restore power for everyone."

Crews in Austin metro area work to restore power, prepare for cold

Thousands woke up Friday morning in the dark. Utility crews have spent all day working to restore power while continuing to prepare for more storms.

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With conditions expected to deteriorate over the next few days, Birnberg remains concerned. "With the storm that’s coming, that hasn’t started yet, it’s just really unnerving. Is it gonna keep happening?" she asked.

The National Weather Service says a Winter Weather Advisory for Central Texas will be issued from 6 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 until noon on Monday, Feb. 15. Residents in the area can expect blustery, rainy, and cold conditions across the area today.

Temperatures will remain nearly steady, with highs ranging from the lower 30s to lower 40s. North winds will be gusty from 15 to 25 mph. Some freezing rain may mix in with rain, especially across the Hill Country.

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