The city of Robinson was hit hard with a loss of almost tota power. Local businesses owners showed sustainability as they sailed to dark and inventory stores that were demolished.
Robinson, Texas – Thousands of residents and businesses in Central Texas were left without energy after heavy storms swept the region early in the morning, bringing strong winds that overthrew trees and power lines.
According to Oncor, more than 1,000 clients in Mclennan region remain without electricity at the time of writing, with additional interruptions reported in Bell, Falls, Freestone, Hill and Milam circuits. The city of Robinson was one of the most striking areas, with officials reporting almost total energy loss throughout the community.
Interruptions have meant a day of lost income and unique challenges for small business owners in the affected areas.
Paula Owen, owner of Rocket Cafe in Robinson, arrived at her restaurant early Tuesday to find it completely dark.
“My daughter comes really early, Chrissy, and she was already here,” Owen said. “I was at home and power went out there and woke me up because all the wind and everything, and she called me and said,” Well, the power is in the cafe. “”
Without electricity, Owen had no choice but to close the day, a decision that carries a significant financial impact.
“This slows down your business down and then we make lunch shipments even in schools, they have also been dropped,” Owen explained. “It can hurt you very badly … That’s at least one -sixth of our sales depending on the day of the week, or more.”
The next door in Denise Designs, owner Denise Wall-Babcock faced various challenges. The floral store relies on cooling to keep the inventory fresh, especially delicate flowers such as roses and lilies.
“The coolers are the same as refrigerators, you just want to keep them closed as much as possible,” Wall-Babcock said. “Some flowers do better than others out of cooling. Cloves, palms of daisy, such things, they will do well. But roses, lilies, they have to stay in the cold.”
Despite working in the dark, Wall-Babcock continued to make scheduled deliveries for Tuesday.
“I’ve had other shipments,” Wall-Babcock told 6 news. “I made them and made them in the dark. “So we did.”
In the typical small town fashion, businesses have supported each other through interruption. Morris, the owner of the southwestern maintenance, provided the battery -driven flood lights for neighboring businesses to help them navigate the dark spaces.
“Morris, our friend who has the maintenance of the southwest, he continued and took us a flood light, a battery operated by the flood light, so we can at least see in the kitchen because it becomes dark there,” Owen said.
Energy outages also forced some school circles to regulate their schedules. Robinson Isd canceled the classes all day long, while the Lorena Isd and Marlin ISD elementary school both delayed their start time due to lack of power. Somerville Isd chose an early release after briefly accommodating students in the country around 8am
Oncor crews have worked all day to restore the service, with some areas seeing the return of energy until the late afternoon. However, the company has not provided a time limit for complete restoration.
Despite a challenging day, owners of local businesses remain resilient and evaluative of emergency responses.
“Just appreciate all efforts from all our first responses,” Wall-Babcock said. “I know we’ve had power lines down and all the people who really work hard to restore power. Love my little community, so proud of it.”
Owen plans to offer free food for the first response to Rocket Cafe on Wednesday, March 5 to thank them for their efforts while interrupting.
Oncor officials remind residents to stay away from crash lines and report interruptions through their website or mobile app.