City officials said a high wind warning remains in effect for Lubbock County until 10:00 p.m. Wednesday.
“Sustained winds up to 40 mph and gusts up to 70 mph are expected to peak around 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.,” an LBK Alert said. “City crews are already responding to multiple power outages including traffic signals, downed power lines and uprooted trees.”
The number of customers without power in Lubbock varied up and down throughout the day but at one point it was more than 7,000 homes or businesses according to the LP&L outage map.
“Drivers are urged to use caution on the roadways and be alert for possible debris and officers directing traffic,” the LBK Alert said.
The highest wind gust officially recorded at the Lubbock airport was 67 miles per hour at 3:31 p.m. The highest gust at the Science Spectrum was 68 mph at 1:58 p.m. The highest gust in the greater West Texas area was 103 miles per hour as measured by the Mesonet site at Pine Springs in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
The city’s landfill closed at noon Wednesday because of high winds. It was scheduled to re-open on Thursday.
Police said numerous intersections lost power at various times, and officers were seen directing traffic. Downed trees and downed power lines were a common sight throughout the day Wednesday.
Wind damage included the Stripes convenience store in Post, multiple truck accidents including Littlefield, and Post and a train derailment in Northeast New Mexico.
After 3:00 p.m., Xcel Energy provided this update:
The number of customers across the region affected by power outages continues to climb. As of 3 p.m., we had almost 40,000 customers without power across Texas and New Mexico, with more than 22,000 of that number in the Texas Panhandle. This includes all of Canadian, Vega and Cactus. We have reports of poles and wires down across the region, and we have restoration efforts under way at close to 850 locations. We don’t have an estimated restoration time for these customers because the wind continues to cause damage across the area.
On Wednesday, Mark Furlow caputured images of a fire at Ranch Road 1066 and State Highway 137 northwest of Lamesa. Fire crews could not get to the fire because downed power lines.
If you have wind damage, please let us know or show us pictures.
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