Where to go in Fort Worth and Arlington if you lose power during a winter storm

North Texas could see more power outages Wednesday night and Thursday morning as the ice storm snaps tree limbs and downs utility lines.

Oncor reported 2,525 outages affecting 99,440 customers as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, with the bulk of those southeast of the Metroplex.

If neighborhoods lose power, Fort Worth and Arlington have the ability to open up emergency shelters. But you first may need to seek help from nonprofit shelters like Presbyterian Night Shelter or the Salvation Army.

Arlington doesn’t have a day shelter but has opened up its recreation centers in the past to help people get warm during power or gas outages, said city communications director Susan Schrock in an email to the Star-Telegram.

The city opened the Beacon Recreation Center over the 2022 Christmas holiday when service disruptions from energy company Atmos Energy left some residents without heat over the holiday.

The Salvation Army at 712 W. Abram St. in Arlington is open as a warming center during the day, Schrock wrote.

Fort Worth opened some of its community centers Tuesday but only kept the Riverside and Fire Station community centers open Wednesday.

This was because the other community centers that were able to open Tuesday weren’t being used for warming, said Karen Stuhmer, a spokesperson for the city’s parks department.

Fort Worth can reopen its community centers for warming and sheltering if needed, but the city uses these centers as backup when nonprofit shelters like Presbyterian Night Shelter and Union Gospel Mission fill up, said Kyle Clay, a spokesperson for the city’s emergency operation center.

Fort Worth is working with Oncor to monitor the weather and make sure residents have all the information they need to stay safe, Clay said.

In the event of a major outage, the city would work with Oncor to get the power on as soon as possible, Clay said. He advised residents to reach out to the Red Cross if they needed shelter immediately.

The city opened several community centers and the convention center as emergency warming shelters during the February 2021 freeze. Anything similar would need to be coordinated by the city’s emergency operation center, Clay said.

The Presbyterian Night Shelter’s True Worth Place at 1513 E. Presidio St. is open during the day from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to help residents get out of the cold.

Fire Station Community Center, at 1601 Lipscomb St., and Riverside Community Center, at 3700 East Belknap St. will be open overnight Wednesday to serve as emergency overflow shelters for residents experiencing homelessness, Stuhmer said.

Fort Worth is urging residents to text FWCOLD to 817-241-3544 to get information about warming centers and places to find shelter if needed.