Atmos Energy has started the service restoration process for the natural gas outage that took place Wednesday morning. Customers will continue to see crews going door-to-door to safely relight and restore service over the next few days.
Repair crews from dozens of Atmos Energy trucks stood in line at the Atmos Thursday. Each crew member waited for their assignments to restore natural gas for residences and businesses in Corsicana. Some crew members had come in as far as Louisiana and Mississippi to assist with service restoration.
According to reports, Atmos Energy has restored services to 54% of those affected by the outage. If customers do not have service restored by Saturday evening, call 888-286-6700.
As of 7:30 a.m. Friday, the following message was shared with Atmos Energy customers via the company’s website, ” Atmos Energy continues to restore natural gas service to customers in Corsicana. You will see our crews going door-to-door to safely restore service and relight appliances.”
“Our crews are working around the clock,” Atmos Energy Manager of Public Affairs Kimberly Smith said. “Our folks are highly trained, working to make sure that the system is free of any issues so we can safely reintroduce gas back into the system. We’ll go house to house and relight and turn the gas on for each meter and make sure service is back on safely.”
The process of clearing and restoring each individual meter will be time consuming. Although the process is well underway as of Thursday, it could take up to Sunday before every affected property is restored.
Smith described an event like this occurring as “rare.”
“We’re asking folks to just kind of bear with us while we make sure,” Smith said. “Because safety is the biggest part of this, making sure once that gas is turned back on. It’s working properly at the customer’s homes before we move on, and that will take a little bit of time.”
Mayor Mike Fletcher praised the efforts of the Atmos Energy crews. Fletcher, along with City Manager Connie Standridge and Economic Development Director John Boswell, visited the Mobile Command Unit.
“We are very impressed by the amount of people that Atmos Energy has mobilized within a matter of hours of the unfortunate gas disruption,” Fletcher said. “There are more than 200 people here this morning from different areas of Texas, and others from Louisiana and Arkansas. They are working diligently and around the clock to restore gas to our key facilities first and to our businesses and homes.”
During an emergency meeting of the Navarro County Commissioners, held Wednesday, Sheriff Elmer Tanner addressed the implications of the natural gas service interruption.
Tanner told Commissioners that he had contacted the state regarding standards for jails in Texas.
In response, Atmos Energy provided a trailer of compressed gas to allow the inmates to have heat, prepare food, and hot water for showers and laundry.
Those with questions regarding natural gas service are encouraged to call 888-286-6700 for updates during the hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Customers can also reach the Atomos Energy emergency line at 866-322-8667 after business hours.
The outage of natural gas services across Corsicana forced several dining establishments to close or limit their services/hours until gas is restored.
“When natural gas service is ready to be restored, please expect the following:A resident of the home or an authorized representative of the business who is 18 years of age or older must be present for the restoration services to be performed.If you are not home or at your business, we will leave a door tag with instructions. For questions regarding your natural gas service, please call 888-286-6700.
Please visit atmosenergy.com/corsicana to learn more.
To file a claim with Atmos Energy related to a business interruption, please visit atmosenergy.com/claims.
As always, Atmos Energy would like to remind everyone if you think you smell gas, act fast! Leave the area immediately and from a safe distance call 911 and the Atmos Energy emergency number, 866-322-8667.”
This is an ongoing story. for more information, check the Corsicana Daily Sun webpage and Facebook page for more updates.
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