Downed Power Lines Kill East Texas Couple

[southerngale]

Dang. Everyone knows not to drive over downed power lines, but in the dark, I guess they could be overlooked. I've never really thought about that and I've driven through numerous thunderstorms at night. What a tragedy. My prayers go out to the son who survived and the rest of their family.

East Texas couple electrocuted, child survives

TYLER, Texas (AP) - A Tyler boy escaped but his parents died after their vehicle came in contact with downed power lines and caught fire during storms.

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the victims Friday as 39-year-old Jose Gumecindo Gonzalez and his wife, 36-year-old Patricia Rodriguez Gonzalez.

DPS says their pickup was westbound north of Tyler on Wednesday night when the vehicle drove over power lines apparently knocked down during the thunderstorms. DPS says the two adults were electrocuted when they exited the burning vehicle.

Family friend Hector Garza says the couple's 15-year-old son, Louis, safely got out. Garza says the man and woman also jumped from the truck, but she apparently landed on a power line and her husband died trying to free her.

Storms roared through the Dallas-Fort Worth area and East Texas on Wednesday night and Thursday, leaving thousands without electricity.

[tropicana]

very terrible tragedy. Kinda puts a human outlook to an otherwise 'storm statistic'.

[SETXWXLADY]

Thats so sad. And yes it does put a human face on a statistic. And also shows us that you don't need a hurricane or tornado to be in danger. While sometimes beautiful and benign, the weather can be dark and deadly in its many forms. I wish there was more awareness of those dangers. Stories like this really break your heart. My thoughts go out to the family.

[vbhoutex]

Definitely a horrible trgedy!!! Prayers going out for the son and the rest of the family. Even with what I know about downed lines I'm not too sure I could have held myself back if my wife was being electrocuted-in fact I know I couldn't. There is an instinct that would take over there vs the brutal reality that one shouldn't try to pull someone else off of an electrically charged line. Truly sad and a no win situation for anyone!

[southerngale]

Kind of OT but related to the same storm system. Those were some pretty potent storms up there... that's a lot of power outages!

Electricity still out for thousands in North Texas


DALLAS (AP) - Some 5,000 customers are still without electricity tonight after severe storms pounded North Texas earlier this week.

Most of those without power are in Dallas County.

More than a half million homes and businesses were left in the dark during a series of storms that began Wednesday night and continued through Thursday. At the peak of the outages, about 260,000 were powerless at one time.

Oncor Electric Delivery spokeswoman, Catherine Cuellar, says she's optimistic they'll have fully repaired the storm outages by tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, 39-year-old Yvonne Jefferson of DeSoto says she has thrown away hundreds and hundreds of dollars of food and no one is willing to help. She's been without power since Thursday.

Oncor records kept since 1996 show this week's damage is the third-worst the company has experienced.