Like thousands of other Austin residents, Darin Murphy has been without power for the sixth day in his home, wrapping his head around the city’s latest demoralizing update: Getting the lights back on could take another week.
“We plan for the worst case scenario,” he said.
Coming up with any plan has been difficult — and infuriating — for the nearly 20,000 customers still without power Monday nearly a week after a deadly ice storm paralyzed the Texas capital and brought down power lines under the weight of fallen and frozen trees. Schools eventually reopened, but noisy generators rattled before dawn and outdoor extension cords 100 feet (30 meters) or longer were the lifelines between neighbors with power and those without.
Frustration boiled over the slow pace of restoring power, and officials repeatedly said they could not offer timetables for repairs, escalated there as the season of Austin’s top city executive plunged into jeopardy even as the number of outages continues to fall.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, called a meeting this week that will make City Manager Spencer Cronk’s job. The move reflects discontent in America’s 11th largest city, where late Sunday, Austin Energy issued a statement amid widespread criticism that full power restoration may not occur until February 12 – nearly two weeks after the outage.
“To all the Austin residents who are angry about the constant power outages, you’re right,” Watson tweeted. “There has to be accountability.”
Cronk, who oversees city staff, responded by telling reporters he was focused on storm recovery and restoring power. Watson did not immediately say he thought Cronk should be fired but said Thursday’s meeting will “evaluate the workforce” of the city manager.
For most of Austin’s residents, the lights were on Monday or never went off in the first place. At the peak of the outage, about 170,000 homes and businesses — nearly a third of Austin’s utility customers — were without power, and in many cases, no heat. On Monday, the outage was down to 4% of all customers.
But in the neighborhood that was still without power, a familiar scene unfolded.
Spoiled food is piled in the bin. Electrical outlets in coffee shops and restaurants are manned by people charging batteries and devices. And in text message groups and social media apps, the sight of repair crews is considered a significant development.
Katy Manganella, 37, was so upset when Austin Energy came to her neighborhood Sunday with a charging station for residents — but still no repaired trucks — that she walked in front of the station holding a poster that read, “This pregnant woman has done. that’s it!”
“It’s pretty miserable,” said Manganella, a therapist who was seven months pregnant and was unable to work last week because of the death. “Why isn’t there a plan for this?”
Austin Energy has described the remaining outages as the most complicated and time-consuming. The storm brought temperatures near or below freezing and ice-covered trees throughout Austin, weighing down branches that eventually fell and hit power lines. Ice equipment and crews driving on slippery roads also slowed recovery efforts, according to city officials.
Crews have also come across “irate customers” out in the field, said Craig Brooks, director of operations for Austin Energy, including one instance in which the police were called. He did not give specifics about the encounter, describing it as, “Some verbal. Some people protecting their property.”
The utility warned Monday that strong winds and potential storms beginning Tuesday could hamper recovery efforts.
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