SAN ANTONIO – Widespread power outages left thousands of people in San Antonio in the dark on Monday morning after strong winds swept through the area.
The outages began Sunday night and at the peak of the windstorm, CPS Energy told KSAT approximately 44,668 customers were without power.
The winds knocked down trees and tore down power lines, causing repairs to scramble after daylight and begin fixing them.
As of late Monday morning, St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church was among more than 700 homes and businesses on the North Side that remained without power.
“We began by canceling our 8:15 morning mass. We also have a preschool with 150 lively children,” said church pastor Rev. Dennis Arechiga. ”So I called the preschool director, and that had to be canceled.”
Arechiga said he spent Sunday night at a friend’s home after the electricity went out at the rectory, his living space.
However, he said he was surprised by the extent of the outages and did not realize the problem would persist the following day. Arechiga said he also had to cancel a wedding, a rare event on his calendar for a Monday.
“But the bride and groom are fine, and we’re going to reschedule it,” Arechiga said. “That was going to be a very small wedding.”
In addition, Arechiga said the church offices and a preschool on the campus, located near Thousand Oaks and U.S. Highway 281, also remained closed all day Monday.
He said the power problems were due to damage done to a utility pole on the property.
On Monday afternoon, CPS Energy told KSAT that power to the church has been restored.
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