High winds in Commerce caused power outages across campus Tuesday.
According to David McKenna, executive director of Facilities Management and Support Services for the university, the power outages were due to snagged power lines.
“Because of the high winds, there were some power lines that were snagged by tree limbs,” McKenna said. “The poles were swaying in the wind and occasionally that wire would get down in the tree limbs so when the wind would shift or stop, it would come back up and that would snag the lines which would cut the power.”
Although the power lines affected were located on the opposite side of Neal Street, the entire campus experienced power outages. According to McKenna, certain areas of campus didn’t have electricity for up to 35 minutes.
Spanish major, Edgar Ayala said the power went out three times in his morning class.
“I was in the Hall of Languages theatre when the lights suddenly went out,” Ayala said. “We were watching a movie and our teacher had to restart the computer each time the power went out. Due to that, the class discussion was slowed down quite a bit and we were eventually dismissed.”
Maintenance struggled with power outages across campus throughout the day, but McKenna said TXU Energy eventually solved the problem.
“They came out and were able to trim back the tree a little bit, which re-established power throughout the lines,” McKenna said. “What we did as a precaution was go around campus and make sure none of the University power lines were being snagged by tree limbs.”
Not only did the campus experience problems due to high winds Tuesday, other areas in East Texas were also affected.
According to Jennifer Brown, a senior Music major at UNT, the strong winds caused fires in the surrounding Denton area, which in turn affected the campus.
“There were a bunch of small fires off of I-35 north of the campus,” Brown said. “There was pretty much a cloud of smoke hanging over the campus for the entire day. It was really hard for me to see when I was walking to my classes and I could smell burning.”
Anticipating heavy winds is a challenge and according to McKenna, the best thing to do is to know what’s around you and take the necessary precautions.
“There are things that come along like this and they make you stop and say these are the things we need to be on the lookout for,” McKenna said. “As a rule though, you don’t normally associate that kind of wind with creating that much damage. These kinds of winds are unusual, you try to react as quickly and positively as possible and then take steps from there to ensure that the problem doesn’t come back again.”