DALLAS — Severe storms that passed through East Texas and Western Louisiana Thursday left more than 200,000 people without power, and on Sunday more than 160,000 were still waiting.
Barry and Desiree Jenkins have been in the dark and the heat for four days in their Kilgore home, about 30 minutes east of Tyler.
“I mean there’s no place to go. There isn’t,” Barry Jenkins said. “There’s nothing we can do to try to change what’s happened except to try to take care of ourselves.”
Power company SWEPCO says it’s working with 2,800 utility workers from surrounding regions to bring the light and air conditioning back on for customers. The company said tree damage forced 50 transmission lines offline.
“One of the emails said it would be back up at 5:30 in the morning,” Desiree said.” The other email said it would be back up at 5 in the morning, and here I’m looking at these emails at 6 in the morning and we’ve got no power.”
SWEPCO’s latest update said their area will have power by Friday at 10 p.m., eight days after the winds and rain.
“This is going to become an emergency situation the longer it goes,” Barry said.
Their son and daughter-in-law brought a generator down from Tennessee to help. Every nearby store is already sold out. Finding fuel took several stops and eventually making it to a gas station in Tyler where half the pumps weren’t working, and they could only use cash.
Their thermometer inside still reads 84 degrees with 80% humidity.
“I woke up the night before last many times with the sweat running down my face and into my mouth,” Desiree said.
“Our activities this week have amounted to three trips to the lake,” Barry Jenkins said. “And most of the times we’re at the lake, we’re in the water. Our cooling station has been the inside of a truck.”
Since Thursday, crews have returned power to 60,000 people in the region, but as of 9 p.m. Sunday, more than 150,000 were still waiting.
Groceries stores and nearly every restaurant around are closed. The generator arrived in time to save food now cooked on a camp stove.
“Everybody’s going to start out fine to start with,” Barry said. “Then as supplies and things dwindle and disappear like just finding gas today got hard to do.”
There’s nothing to do but hydrate and hope.