More than 182,000 Valley homes without power

While most Brownsville residents have had power restored to their homes and businesses, more than 182,000 Rio Grande Valley households are without power Wednesday morning, according to American Electric Power (AEP).

Company linemen and servicemen are assessing electric infrastructure across the valley, which could take two to seven days to repair, said AEP spokesman Jerry Don Wilson. The company brought in 1,600 employees from other companies to help restore power, he said.

"There is no timeline," Wilson said. "It could be two days or it could be a week. It depends on the severity of the damage."

Hidalgo County could see power restored more quickly than Cameron and Willacy County, which together took the brunt of Tropical Storm Dolly's hurricane-force winds Tuesday.

Critical users like hospitals, water and sewer pump stations and city halls are the priority, he said.

In Brownsville, some areas of the city had continuous power throughout Hurricane Dolly, while others on the northside of town near Morris Road were without lights for nearly 24 hours.

In south McAllen, a fire erupted at an AEP substation shortly after 8 p.m., further threatening the city's power supply. Firefighters on the scene just watched the fire burn, waiting for AEP workers to arrive. Lt. Abel Gonzalez with the McAllen Fire Department said he didn't know what started the fire.

"There's nothing in danger at this time," he said.

That substation handled much of downtown McAllen's electrical load, Solis said. He did not know if the company would be able to repair it or if the company would need to bring in a mobile substation in the interim.