UPDATE: Cherokee County experiencing power outage due to weather conditions

January 11, 2021

UPDATED at 10:49 a.m. Monday, Jan. 11

Area residents remain without power this morning, following outages in Cherokee County.

While Cherokee County Electric Co-op report restored power to customers overnight, Oncor is reporting that 5,350 residents – primarily in Jacksonville and outlying areas – are expected to have power restored by 5 p.m. today.

- - -

A number of Cherokee County residents are without power overnight, following a rare snowfall in the area that created issues with falling limbs and downed lines.

According to an Oncor outage map, at 10:52 p.m. Sunday, a total of 5,594 customers of the total 16,636 served were experiencing outages. The largest group – 2,522 customers – reported outages in the Jacksonville-Gallatin-Ponte area.

"Due to the winter storm in East Texas, Oncor has experienced significant damage to power lines," according to the company's website. "In Tyler, Palestine, Lufkin and surrounding areas, Oncor resources are currently working on restoring power to the area. While hazardous conditions are creating challenges in some areas, crews will be working through the night to restore power as quickly and safely as possible."

Power is expected to be restored by 5 p.m. Monday.

Meanwhile, officials with Cherokee County Electric Co-op are reporting 641 outages from south of lake Jacksonville to south of Maydelle, and 960 from New Summerfield, south of Reklaw, and across from Ponta to just outside Lake Striker, with conditions currently being assessed.

Oncor officials advised residents to "please stay away from downed power lines, keep traffic away from impacted areas, and report it as soon as possible by contacting 911.