ROBINSON, Texas (KWTX) – A major power outage hit thousands of Oncor customers in Robinson Tuesday after wind snapped a handful of power lines, closing schools and businesses.

Robinson Volunteer Fire Department said crews responded to snapped power lines around 6:30 Tuesday morning.

“Based on the damage that we have coming through our town, it seems like there were probably straight-line winds that came right through here as well this morning,” Robinson Volunteer Fire Department Chief Stephen Sullivan said.

He said some residents also reported roof damage, but the main impacts stemmed from a power outage impacting more than 5,000 Oncor customers in the area. Robinson ISD canceled school for the day.

The outage also impacted businesses along Robinson Dr. Launch Pad Espresso was one small business that had to close because of the outage.

Owner of Launch Pad Espresso, James Dodd, said he was preparing to take the mobile trailer to a business when the storm hit and the power went out.

“That’s when the countdown started for all the items in our refrigerators and freezers to go bad,” he said. “I started up the generator and the refrigerators in the trailer, and we moved as much as we could into there.”

Dodd said he had just made 120 kolaches from scratch Monday, so he quickly moved the fresh baked items into the mobile trailer. He also moved as much food and milk that could fit.

“All our food items, the clock is ticking,” he said. “We have four hours from the time it gets above 40 degrees in our refrigerators.”

Zachary Rogers, the owner of Your Mom’s Soups, Salads and Spuds, which operates out of the same building as Launch Pad Espresso, said he also quickly tried to save food.

They did not find any wind damage to the business. However, the greatest loss for both small businesses is to close for an entire day.

“It’s a major impact for us,” Rogers said. “Being such a small business, we’re almost as small time as it gets, so even a day’s worth of sales missing is a huge impact for us and our family. We’ve got three kids, my wife and I own and operate this place by ourselves, so it’s difficult day in and day out. A closing like this, even for something as unforeseen as weather-related incidents, it impacts us greatly.”

“This is going to be a huge impact,” Dodd said. “We don’t have corporate backing for stuff like this…It’s a complete day out of the shop. It’s a complete day out of the mobile units, too. So it’s a big hit.”

Dodd and Rogers hope power will be restored Tuesday afternoon, and they believe their community will support them.

“I think everybody will come out and help us out that missed today,” Dodd said.

As of Tuesday afternoon around 12:30, about 4,000 customers in the Robinson area are without power.

The city of Robinson is asking residents to conserve water as the outage is impacting the water treatment plant.

The latest update from Robinson Volunteer Fire Department states that Oncor crews remain on the scene. It is unclear when power will be fully restored.

Chief Sullivan said the departments were prepared to respond to weather-related incidents with more than 25 volunteers ready to help Tuesday morning.

He said residents should remain fire aware as strong winds continue throughout the day.

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