As of 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, 1,750 Abilene area customers remained without electric service in the wake of high winds, rain and lightning that blanketed the areas early Monday evening. The number of outages reached 24,500 at one point, as AEP Texas crews worked to restore power and complete initial damage assessments.

Crews currently are focusing their activities on actions that will restore power to the most number of customers. These include replacing fuses, closing breakers and other activities. As new crews arrive, they will begin replacing poles and other equipment damaged by the storm.

All available local AEP Texas crews are working on the restoration effort and additional crews from surrounding areas also have been called in. At least 45 utility poles were damaged during the storm, and that number is expected to increase as the restoration activities and damage assessment continues.

Service was restored to most of Dyess Air Force Base around midnight and to the remainder of the base by around 1 a.m.