Electrical Problems After Storm
North Texas storm season doesn’t ease into things — it drops golf-ball hail on Arlington, snaps a service drop in Garland, and leaves half a neighborhood in McKinney wondering why the power came back for everyone else but their place smells like hot plastic. After 28 years of post-storm calls across DFW, here’s our field guide to what storms actually do to home electrical systems, and what to check — safely — before you flip everything back on.
First, the Life-Safety Rules
- A downed line is live until proven otherwise. Stay 35+ feet away, keep kids and dogs inside, call 911 and Oncor (888-313-4747). Never touch anything the line touches — fences carry current a long way.
- If your house flooded, don’t wade into a room with energized outlets below the waterline. Power stays off until an electrician clears the circuits.
- If you smell burning or hear buzzing after power restoration, kill the main and read our burning smell guide — restoration surges finish off marginal connections.
The Damage Storms Do (That Homeowners Miss)
- Pulled service masts. Wind or a falling limb yanks the service drop, bending the mast and loosening the weatherhead — the meter may still spin while water tracks down the conductors into your panel. This is the sneakiest one: the utility fixes their wire, but the mast, weatherhead, and meter base are the homeowner’s equipment. We repair these constantly in Arlington and Mesquite hail corridors.
- Water in exterior boxes. Flooded outlets, flood lights, and pool equipment trip GFCIs for weeks after — see pool electrical safety.
- Surge casualties. Lightning within a few blocks rides in on power, cable, and phone lines. If multiple electronics act strange post-storm, that’s surge damage — our surge protection guide covers prevention.
- The half-dead house. Some lights bright, some dim, appliances angry: a storm-damaged neutral. Shut the main off — this one destroys equipment by the hour.
Your Post-Storm Checklist
Walk the exterior: mast straight? Weatherhead intact? Meter base flush against the wall? Any tree contact with the drop? Inside: test every GFCI, sniff every room, and watch for flickering or dimming in the first 24 hours. Document everything with photos — homeowner’s insurance covers storm damage to service equipment more often than people realize, and our written diagnosis supports the claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Power’s back on the street but not my house — who do I call?
If neighbors have power and you don’t, the fault is likely between the transformer and your panel. Call Oncor first to check their side; if the drop is intact, it’s your service equipment — that’s us, and it’s a 24/7 emergency call with a 2-hour response guarantee.
Does insurance cover storm electrical damage?
Mast, meter base, and surge damage to attached equipment are commonly covered perils in Texas policies, minus deductible. We provide itemized reports insurers accept.
Storm did a number on your electrical? Call Bright Way Electrical Contracting at (817) 932-1099 — 24/7 storm response across all of Dallas–Fort Worth since 1998.