about 31,300 on Feb. 1. About 3,700 of Georgetown Util- ity Systems’ 31,730 customers expe- rienced power outages, said General Manager Daniel Bethapudi said. About 9,000 PEC customers in the city were without power at the peak of outages, according to the company. “What made this outage restoration particularly challenging was repetitive tree-related damages to the power lines,” Bethapudi said in an email. Continuing to clean up With state and local disaster declara- tions in place, o cials are encouraging residents to document and report any damage to their properties to the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Shoe said the $2.5 million in dam- ages reported already does not include the county’s own expenses or expected reports from other area cities and school districts. “So we’re very con dent we’ll get way over the disaster threshold,” Shoe said. “As long as the state meets the $51.7 million disaster threshold, we’ll start to see reimbursement.” Locally, residents are responsible for removing trees and limbs from their personal property, according to city and county o cials. City and some municipal utility dis- trict residents are able to place tree limbs and debris by the curb for pickup on the rst recycling day of the month. Additionally, a special pickup event “This, in its own way, is the widest spread, biggest disaster I’ve ever seen hit the county. I have not seen a tree that has not snapped in some form or fashion.” RUSS BOLES, WILLIAMSON COUNTY PRECINCT 4 COMMISSIONER
DISPOSING OF DEBRIS Local o cials said it will take weeks and even months to clean up all the debris left from the winter storm that moved through the area Jan. 31-Feb. 2. Both the city of Georgetown and Williamson County are o ering options to help residents clear downed trees and brush from their yards. GEORGETOWN Residents can place bundled tree limbs and debris by the curb, which will be picked up on the rst recycling day of the month. Those who missed the February pickup may leave limbs out until the March pickup. WILLIAMSON COUNTY Williamson County residents can drop o debris and brush at the Williamson County Land ll in Hutto. Through Feb. 19, Waste Management is charging $10 per truck load of clean brush and wood. After Feb. 19, the cost for disposing of brush is $8.64 per cubic yard. Trash and other debris costs $46.90 per ton. place uncut and unbundled tree branches at the curb by Feb. 26. Residents and businesses can also drop o storm debris at the Georgetown Transfer Station at 250 W.D. Waldon Drive; Organics By A special pickup event will take place the week of Feb. 27. Residents can Gosh, 2040 FM 969; or the Killeen Transfer Station, 12200 Hwy. 195. To qualify for additional aid, the city and state must have incurred a speci c amount of storm-related damages. Residents and business owners are encouraged to report damage to personal property to the Texas Division of Emergency Management. REPORTING DAMAGES
Crews were dispatched to remove trees from roads and restore power Feb. 2. (Joe Warner/Community Impact)
Architect Stephanie Krull said. “The less water that’s in [a tree], the less exible it is,” she said. “So when we’re in a drought period, which we are, the trees are a little more stressed than they are when they have regular rainfall.” Lee Evans, an arborist with Aus- tin-based Certi ed Arbor Care, said a half inch of ice accumulation on a tree that is 30 inches in diameter at the trunk can weigh about 7,000 pounds, easily causing trees and other infra- structure to fall under the pressure. Serenada resident Laura Atkinson said a 40-foot tree split in half, damag- ing her property. Later that night, she woke up to a tree ripping through her 80-year-old neighbor’s ceiling. “Our neighborhood looks like a disaster zone,” Atkinson said. “We didn’t lose electricity like a lot of peo- ple did. We just heard limbs. We have 90 trees in our yard, and we back up to the woods, and we could hear trees falling everywhere.” Georgetown residents are served by three di erent electricity providers: Georgetown Utility Systems, Oncor and Pedernales Electric Cooperative, according to the city. While power outages occurred across all three providers, they were not due to grid conditions or demand outpacing supply like during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, Oncor Area Manager Armando Perez. Perez said Oncor out- ages in Williamson County peaked at
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people with property damage to receive nancial assistance, such as low-interest loans, for those who are uninsured or underinsured. To be eligible for assistance, the county must meet a minimum thresh- old for damage as a result of the storm of $2.7 million, and the state must have a disaster declaration and meet a minimum threshold of $51.7 million. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a declaration for Texas on Feb. 4. As of Feb. 6, county residents had reported $2.5 million in damages, said Michael Shoe, Williamson County Emergency Management director. Shoe said the county expects that num- ber to increase as residents continue to clean up following the storm. “This, in its own way, is the wid- est-spread, biggest disaster I’ve ever seen hit the county,” Williamson County Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles said. “I have not seen a tree that has not snapped in some Beginning overnight Jan. 31, freez- ing rain accumulated on roads, trees and power lines, weighing them down, resulting in thousands of power out- ages and widespread tree damage. More tree damage occurred this time because of ongoing drought conditions, Southwestern University Landscape OUTAGE INFORMATION Georgetown residents are served by three di erent power providers. The following numbers represent the peak outages at the height of the storm Feb. 1. form or fashion.” Scope of the storm Georgetown Utility Systems: 3,700 Oncor in Williamson County: 31,300 Pedernales Electric Cooperative in Georgetown: 9,000
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SOURCES: AUSTIN DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK, THE CARING PLACE, CITY OF GEORGETOWN, GEORGETOWN UTILITY SYSTEMS, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ONCOR, PEDERNALES ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, TEXAS A&M FORESTRY SERVICE, TEXAS DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION, WILLIAMSON COUNTY COMMUNITY IMPACT
Damage to infrastructure, such as power lines, not grid capacity was the reason for thousands of local power outages. (Joe Warner/Community Impact)
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