A powerful winter storm swept across North Texas late Sunday night, knocking out power to more than 180,000 homes and businesses across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and leaving state emergency officials scrambling to coordinate relief efforts before temperatures plunged to single digits Monday morning.
The storm, which forecasters had warned about for several days, moved faster than anticipated and deposited between four and eight inches of ice and snow across a wide swath of the region. Collin, Denton, Tarrant, and Dallas counties were among the hardest hit, with utility crews working through the night to restore service to affected residents.
“We are doing everything we can to get crews deployed and restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” said Marcus Tillman, a spokesman for Oncor Electric Delivery, the region’s primary utility provider. “Ice accumulation on lines is significant in some areas, and that adds time to our restoration efforts. We ask customers to be patient and to please stay warm.”
Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 47 Texas counties early Monday, activating the Texas Division of Emergency Management and authorizing the deployment of National Guard troops to assist with road clearing and welfare checks on vulnerable residents. Warming centers were opened in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, and Plano, though icy road conditions made travel dangerous.
The Texas Department of Transportation reported more than 400 accidents across the state’s highway system by midday Monday, including a 23-vehicle pileup on Interstate 35W near Burleson that sent six people to the hospital. TxDOT officials urged residents to stay home unless travel was absolutely necessary.
“If you do not have to be on the roads today, please stay home,” said TxDOT spokesperson Angela Ruiz. “Our crews are working to treat and clear major highways, but conditions are still extremely hazardous in many areas. Black ice is a serious concern throughout the overnight hours.”
The storm also disrupted air travel at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, where hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed. Airport officials advised travelers to check with their airlines before heading to the terminal and warned of cascading delays that could persist into mid-week as the system moved east.
Schools across the metroplex announced closures for Monday and many districts extended those closures into Tuesday pending road conditions. Several municipal governments, including the City of Dallas, shifted non-essential employees to remote work and suspended garbage collection services until roads were clear.
Emergency shelters reported a surge in residents seeking warmth and safety, particularly among homeless populations in Dallas and Fort Worth. Local nonprofits and faith organizations mobilized to supplement city shelter capacity, with the Salvation Army opening its doors around the clock at multiple locations.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth said the storm system was expected to clear by Tuesday afternoon, with temperatures gradually climbing back above freezing by Wednesday. However, they cautioned that refreeze conditions overnight Monday and Tuesday could make roads dangerous well into the middle of the week.
State officials said they were monitoring the power grid closely after the catastrophic failures that accompanied the February 2021 winter storm, which left millions without electricity for days and resulted in hundreds of deaths. ERCOT, which manages the state’s electrical grid, said it had taken steps since 2021 to weatherize generating units and that it did not anticipate widespread grid failures from the current storm.
“We are in a very different position than we were in 2021,” said ERCOT Chief Operating Officer Dana Flowers. “Our grid is performing, and while outages are occurring, they are distribution-level outages from storm damage to lines, not generation failures.”
Residents were advised to keep emergency kits on hand, charge devices, and check on elderly neighbors. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission activated its 2-1-1 helpline for residents needing assistance finding warming centers and other emergency resources.
