Be Prepared

Preparedness starts with understanding when local systems are most likely to be strained. A review of 500 NOAA/NCEI Storm Events reports for Dallas County found 98 heat, drought, cold, freeze, ice, or strong-wind events that could create broad outage risk. These reports represent one fifth of the record, yet they account for 1,414 of 1,428 injuries and 15 of 22 deaths.

The pattern matters. Outage-risk events form two distinct seasonal peaks: January and February, then July and August. Winter cold can damage equipment and increase heating demand. Summer heat raises electricity use while reducing the carrying efficiency of power lines. Both periods leave less operating margin when a component fails.

Property-damage totals can hide this risk. The 98 flagged reports account for only $6.5 million, or 0.2 percent of the county's $3.34 billion in reported property damage. Severe heat and cold often harm people and disrupt services without producing visible building damage. A low damage estimate is therefore not evidence of low household exposure.

Homeowners should prepare for both seasons. Identify the circuits that must remain powered, including refrigeration, communications, medical equipment, lighting, and one manageable cooling or heating zone. Test backup internet and battery equipment before peak weather arrives. Know how long stored energy will support essential loads, and decide in advance which loads will be turned off.

The charts also require careful interpretation. NOAA records reports, not individual storms, outages, customers affected, or hours without electricity. Countywide heat or freeze events may receive one report, while a hailstorm can generate many street-level entries.

The source export reached NOAA's 500-record limit and stops on March 4, 2025, so the final year is incomplete. Even with that limitation, the seasonal message is clear: preparedness should be completed before winter cold and summer heat, not after a local outage suddenly begins.