More than 200,000 people in North Texas remained without power Wednesday.
Oncor said crews were working 16-hour shifts to restore power but said they didn’t expect it to be restored to most areas until late Friday, and possibly Saturday.
The unknown situation is not only difficult for homeowners, but also for businesses that are unable to operate.
At Oak Cliff’s dimly lit Olmo Market, you’re not just waiting, you’re also racing against time and rising temperatures.
“We’ve been without power for 24 hours at this point,” said Cindy Pedraza, co-owner of Olmo and CocoAndre Chocolatiers.
Pedraza said the mission to save Chocolate has taken on increased urgency since Tuesday morning’s storm.
“It was getting pretty muggy. As soon as it hit 86 degrees, you could feel the muggy heat in this room. It got up to 76 degrees, which was still OK for making chocolate, but at that point I started to get a little scared,” she said.
After receiving word that power might not be restored until Friday or Saturday, workers scrambled to secure generators, electric fans and portable air conditioning units.
Employees at Harvey’s Burgers next door are also doing their best to prevent losses.
“We started out pop-up style, so it’s pretty easy to go back to that,” general manager Olivia Hargrave said.
For several hours, workers relied on propane grills to keep the doors open, grilling burgers and handing out chips and sodas under a tent outside the newly opened restaurant.
“We’re just trying to do our best, trying to feed everybody, trying to get through it all,” she said.
Pedraza said she has already been forced to cancel planned events and hopes she doesn’t have to do it a second time.
“For small businesses, a few days of closure feels like a month of closure,” she said.
For now all we can do is wait.
