Pollen leads to at least 2,000 customers without power in east Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) — About 2,000 Austin Energy customers in east Austin lost power Monday morning.

According to the Austin Energy map, the outage is taking place near Rogge Lane and Blanton Elementary School, which is in the Windsor Park neighborhood.

The utility told KXAN the outage was caused by a power pole catching fire due to rain falling on pollen debris.

Crews are hoping to have power restored by 10:49 a.m.

A similar incident occurred in April 2021, when the Austin Fire Department said light mist falling then was reacting with dust on top of the poles, causing them to catch fire. AFD reported at least 22 calls about the reactions that day.

Over in Pflugerville and north Austin, Oncor is reporting an outage affecting 1,887 customers. Power is expected to come back on for those people around noon.

Periods of showers, downpours and thunderstorms are expected on and off all day Monday.