Texas City power outage leaves thousands in the dark, leads to plants burning off chemicals

GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Crews are still working to restore power that has left thousands of people in Galveston County without power Friday night. This comes as we go into the second night of freezing temperatures.

It all unfolded around 6 p.m. Friday. According to the Texas City Officer of Emergency Management, there is a power outage in the area. As a result, some residents reported seeing flames at several plants in the area. That's because plants are having to burn off chemicals since there is no power, officials said.

"At this time a large portion of the city is without power. The plants are flaring. As of now, there are no threats to the community. Emergency Management is monitoring the situation," Texas City emergency management shared on its Facebook.

ABC13 reached out to ERCOT for more information. The company sent the following statement:

"We are aware of an outage issue involving a Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) transmission line. We are talking with TNMP and offering any assistance we can provide. This transmission outage does not impact overall grid reliability."

La Marque City is also alerting residents that officials are aware of the outage in Texas City that may impact their residents. They add that emergency services are already at the scene working to restore power.

At this time, La Marque officials said there is no shelter in place issued. But the city is opening a warming shelter for those who need it. The warming shelter will be located at 750 Saltgrass Road, La Marque, TX 77568.

It's unclear what caused the power outage.