Tyler, Texas (KYTX)-- Nearly everything we use runs on power, which is why cities have protocols in place if the lights go out.
"We plan every day for outages like this," Charles Hill, Region Operations Manager for Oncor, said.
He has some reassuring words from the primary electricity provider Oncor, which supplies power to nearly 3 million Texans. The company is closely watching how repairs are going on the coast.
"Every storm has its personality and so we learn from every storm," Hill said.
That lesson can take longer than you want. Hill says fixing down power lines is no easy job. "We are doing much more with computers to help us diagnose where major outages are, but the construction process is still very slow," Hill said.
He adds a strong storm to hit this area could shut off power for 4 to 6 days. Then, there's the meantime to worry about. "When you talk about power going down, things like water become critical issues," Hill said.
Think of all the things you can't do without power. No charging your iPhone, a curling iron, or typing an email. "Anytime something like that happens, its hard to deal with. We have shelters in place in the city run on generators for backup power," Tim Johnson, Fire Chief for the City of Tyler Fire Department, said.
Johnson says the protocol for the unexpected revolves around the Emergency Operations Center.
"Our shelters will be set up to where our people get some air conditioning. But it depends on how wide-range the problem is," Johnson said.
The city and county don't just write out these exercises, they do them. In fact, they've practiced twice this year already to make sure everything is working.
"It's all being thought of as we speak. We are working on these things all the time," Johnson said.
Oncor has even sent specialists in to the Washington DC area to help with repairs. They say it's too big a job for just one company.
The Mid-Atlantic region has been without power since Friday, although many homes were restored as of Thursday morning.
