City Says All Pumps Running 'With the Exception of' Bennett Lake

Assistant Director of Public Works Alan Harder/Photo by Noah Dawson

Update June 10, 2023, 3:23 pm: Excel has announced they have been “able to re-energize an additional 219 customers on the periphery of the Lawrence Lake flood zone.” 608 customers remain without power as of the update.

Original Story:

Editor’s note: information was current at the time of the press conference. As the flood disaster is an ongoing situation, some information may be out of date.

The City of Amarillo held a press conference on Friday afternoon at the Office of Emergency Management. During the press conference, Assistant Director of Public Works Alan Harder confirmed that “all city pumps have been running today with the exception of the pump at Bennett Lake.”

Additionally, he noted that a new pump is being installed at Lawrence Lake by the Texas Department of Transportation. According to Harder, TxDOT “expects it to be operational today.” Once that pump becomes operational, coordination of pumping will begin at Bennett Lake. “We expect that to be going on throughout the weekend,” said Harder.

During the conference, Wes Reeves of Xcel Energy addressed power being shut off in some areas near Lawrence Lake. “We were asked yesterday to de-energize three circuits coming out of our Lawrence Park substation,” said Reeves. “That’s something we learned as children, that water and electricity don’t mix.” He noted that, at the time of the conference, about 847 customers were without power. “Today, we were able to bring 222 customers back up on the southern edge” of the impacted region. “The goal, ultimately, is that all of the water is in Lawrence Lake and not in the streets and the homes and the businesses. As we do that, we will be able to bring them on in increments.”

Janell Menahem, the coordinator of the Multi-Agency Resouce Center at Randall County Firestation #1, noted that the center is expected to close at 7:00 pm on Friday, June 9th. She noted that, after the center closes, the public is asked to call the United Way helpline 211, choose option 1 for local information and referral, and let the specialist know they are a part of the panhandle flooding disaster. Another center may be opened up “towards the end of next week” if needed.

For those wanting to donate, the Downtown Women’s Center at 10th and Adams is accepting material donations including household goods and clothes. However, Menahem noted that food donations are not needed at the moment. AmarilloAreaFoundation.org/disaster is taking monetary donations.