Dear Neighbors,
The disaster of the last week has underscored that we need major and immediate change in how our city manages difficult circumstances. I share your sense of urgency. I have previously expressed in private and in public my reservations about City Manager Spencer Cronk’s ability to manage our city- (see Item 72 at 6:35). I am co-sponsoring an emergency item on Thursday’s agenda to evaluate the employment of the City Manager, together with Mayor Watson and Council Members Fuentes and Vela. Our city cannot afford another disaster. We must rebuild the competence of the organization and we must restore the trust of our residents that we have so severely damaged. After repeated disasters and mismanagement our constituents deserve honesty and accountability.
You will hear more from me on this soon. In the meantime, I am sharing the latest updates on power restoration and disaster recovery below.
Austin Energy Update
As of 2.40 p.m. today, there were still 1,767 utility accounts in District 10, and approximately 6,143 accounts in the City, without power. These numbers are constantly changing as crews resolve outages. The extensive tree canopy in West Austin meant that District 10 had among the most trees down.
I have the following update on the remaining District 10 neighborhoods experiencing outages:
The main circuits in these areas no longer have a circuit lockout, meaning that they are mostly or partially restored with a majority of remaining active incidents in wooded residential areas. There are smaller line fuses or taps that deliver power into various neighborhoods, feeding through the backyards of most properties. These are still in the process of being restored.
In each of these neighborhoods, there are trees on wires, pole damage, and low wires that crews will continue to address. These smaller line fuses generally serve a smaller customer count as the crews dive deeper into neighborhoods– many of which have heavy tree coverage. Austin Energy crews are in the last stretches of these circuits now, and they have been successful in restoring many large sections of these areas.
As crews move from larger devices to smaller tap points, the number of customers restored per incident may be lower (few blocks, few houses, etc.). Austin Energy also emphasized that you may notice that a block across from you is restored before yours is. This may be evidence of a smaller line fuse that was restored earlier, neighbors being on different electrical circuits, or differing degrees of weather/tree damage. ALL these areas have active incidents in Austin Energy’s Distribution Management System and crews are working throughout the day and night to restore power.
Austin Energy is still not providing time estimates for specific circuits or neighborhoods, but they maintain their current estimate that, barring complications from the severe thunderstorms beginning this afternoon, or cases that require the homeowner to make repairs or grant crews access, power will be fully restored by Sunday evening.
Like you, I have outstanding questions about our City’s failures in communications and emergency response. Together with Council Member Fuentes, I requested a briefing on the City’s storm response during the Council work session today. This was the first of many conversations that we must have with Austin Energy, City leadership, and with our community. I raised questions I have been hearing from you during the briefing, and you can view the briefing here when it posts this evening.
Shelter for Those Without Power
If your home is still without power and you need a place to shower or sleep, dial 3-1-1 or 512-974-2000 to request overnight stays with Austin 311.
Weather Warning This Week
A fresh bout of bad weather is expected tonight and tomorrow, which could further destabilize compromised trees and power lines and complicate restoration efforts. Austin Homeland Security and Emergency Management is urging us to be aware and monitor children/pets when walking underneath trees, and to move our vehicles away from under trees if possible. Visit AustinTexas.gov/Alerts for the latest updates in multiple languages.
Dark/Flashing Traffic Signals in District 10
There are still two dark/flashing traffic signals in District 10–one at Exposition Blvd. and Westover Rd. and one at West 45th St. and Ramsey Ave. Temporary stop signs have been installed at these intersections and Austin Transportation Department crews are working to make these repairs. Please drive carefully in the meantime.
Disaster Recovery and Financial Assistance
Mayor Watson, Travis County Judge Brown, and Governor Abbott have signed disaster declarations– the first step in seeking state and federal assistance for response and recovery efforts. You can learn more about the recovery process in this news story, and I will highlight a few resources below.
The Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) website has information on the temporary disaster-related exemption for Travis County property owners with home or business damage from the recent storm. The deadline to apply is May 22. Additionally, tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. TCAD will host an online webinar on homestead and disaster-related exemptions. Register at https://traviscad.org/webinars
Learn more about emergency repairs and permits here. Permits are not required to start work on emergency repairs. For questions, call 3-1-1 or the emergency repairs hotline at 512-974-1500.
Update on Brush and Curbside Pickup
Austin Resource Recovery currently has more than 50 crews collecting storm debris throughout the city, including additional contracted crews. Compost collection may be delayed due to the increased volume of storm debris–please leave your cart out.
Regular storm debris (under 5 feet in length and 3 inches in diameter) will be picked up during weekly collection. Please allow crews several collection cycles to get this picked up. For brush longer than 5 feet, it is helpful–but no longer required–to submit a request via 3-1-1 (“Storm Debris Collection” is under “trending requests” in the free 3-1-1 app).
Austin Resource Recovery crews and contractors are going neighborhood by neighborhood to conduct brush collection from the storm. If you see others in your neighborhood served by Austin Resource Recovery before you, please know that you are not being permanently skipped. There are a few reasons a house could seem to be skipped for pick-up:
1) Capacity left in the truck – they may be moving to a smaller load due to limited space left in the truck. Leftover loads will be collected on a separate run;
2) Branches in a pile that exceed truck length requirements; and
3) Your debris pile is a mix of brush and bulk items. Any exception that falls under #2 and #3 will get attention from an Austin Resource Recovery employee for follow-up.
To help speed up brush pickup, please keep bulk items such as fence panels out of brush piles, and cut your large brush so that it is under 15 feet in length. If you are physically unable to cut your brush or move it to the curb, Austin Disaster Relief Network has volunteer teams to assist you.
For those who live outside of Austin Resource Recovery’s service territory, I have spoken with Austin Resource Recovery’s Director Snipes and Travis County Judge Andy Brown about the need for brush removal in the ETJ and ESD4. I understand the wildfire risks in these areas. Those departments are working to get us a solution and we will communicate that information as soon as it is available.
I will share another update soon.
Regards,
Alison Alter
Council Member, District 10
