In February 2017, several different storm lines intersected outside of San Antonio, sparking five separate tornadoes. They obliterated homes, wood poles, and transmission towers. Hundred-plus mph winds knocked down trees and inflicted damage in the heavily developed north and northeast side of San Antonio.CPS Energy crews quickly responded to the storm, and when they went to assess damage, they found one tower buckled at mid-height.
In total, four transmission towers were in the path of the tornadoes: two towers, which were located 850 ft apart and served two different circuits, failed completely. Two other towers were damaged and will eventually need to be replaced.
At the peak of restoration, when more than 84,000 of CPS Energy’s customers had no electricity, about 70 linemen were on site to restore power, including about 12 from the utility. Following are images of the damage and CPS' concerted effort to restore infrastructure and power as quickly as possible.