TYLER, Texas — Many East Texans are still without power across our area. Making many people either find a new place to stay or toughing it out with their fireplaces at home until the power comes on.
Meanwhile Oncor is working nonstop to restore power and ensure everyone stays warm.
The scene all across East Texas on Thursday consist of tree branches down everywhere you look.
Tyler resident Ricky Collins said he's been without power for two days.
"We're working that fireplace and then isolated in the living room just one room," Collins said. "We got blankets up, pretty much just trying to keep that heating and stay warm."
According to Oncor's customer service east region manager Tom Trimble, crews have been working nonstop to help restore power across East Texas.
"We're gonna work all through the day today and we'll work all through the night," Trimble said. "We've got people coming in that are going to push through the night again to try to get power back on. Then we'll probably end up working at least through the day tomorrow."
The trees in East Texas have been so stressed that when the ice started forming on branches major limbs started to break off and fall.
"We had the winter storm in 2021 where we were in subzero temperatures plus the snow," said Andie Rathbone with Smith County Master Gardeners. "Then we had a drought last summer and now we have this ice storm. So the trees are going from one stressful situation to another to another. They've really taken a beating."
Collins said he heard crackles outside from tree limbs falling on his surrounding powerlines. He said a pine tree near his home snapped and damaged his backyard fence.
"If you could just make sure you report an outage," Trimble said. "If you see your neighbor's (power) is on or you see your neighbor's off don't assume that they're reporting their outage. Because there might be doing the same with you."
As the cleanup continues the Texas Forest Service has deployed 18 crew members to Tyler to assist with the aftermath of the ice storm.