Power outages in Cherokee County soar above 7,000 mark

Apr. 28—Several waves of intense thunderstorms that struck Cherokee County Sunday night are being blamed for more than 7,000 electric customers being without power as of 10:00 p.m.

Cherokee County Electric CO-OP reports 5,308 meters to be off line, with about 1,400 accounts west of Rusk being in the dark and another 1,300 being without power west of Alto.

In the Maydelle area, 700 homes and businesses are in the dark.

Oncor's numbers are much better, with nearly 1,900 accounts reported to be without electricity.

In Jacksonville, about 700 accounts are in the dark, while close to 500 electric customers are affected in the Rusk area.

Neither utility provider indicated when electricity is expected to be restored.