A Soaker at Last: Saturday Night’s Storms Brought Needed Rain — and Spotty Outages — to the Longview Area
East Texas finally picked up a much-needed dose of rain on Saturday night, October 18, as a cold front pushed through with scattered storms. Local forecasters had flagged the day as a First Alert Weather Day, calling for gusty winds, hail, and downpours into the evening - and that’s exactly what many neighborhoods experienced.
What We Saw Locally on Saturday Night
- Storms on the radar: KLTV’s weather team tracked thunderstorms building through the afternoon and evening, with the primary risks being strong winds and pockets of heavy rain.
- Outages in nearby co-op territory:
- Upshur Rural Electric Cooperative (URECC) reported weather-related outages
across its service territory Saturday night and posted follow-ups for specific communities — including
East Mountain late Saturday and
Diana/Harleton on Sunday morning as restoration continued.
- Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative logged
~550 outages at 10 pm Saturday, noting crews were working to restore power quickly.
- Warnings nearby: Rusk County Emergency Management relayed an
NWS Severe Thunderstorm Warning
around prime time Saturday evening, covering portions of Rusk and Panola Counties — a good snapshot of how fast conditions shifted across the region.
Bottom line: The rain arrived (finally), and while many made it through with lights on, pockets of East Texas did lose power as storms rolled through.
Why the Rain Mattered: It’s Been Dry
If you’ve felt like the lawn has been crunchier than usual — you’re not wrong. Drought and abnormally dry conditions have been expanding across Texas in October, with multiple East/Southeast Texas counties issuing burn bans and drought indicators trending higher.
Even the NWS Longview daily climate summaries show a lean October rainfall tally so far — another sign that soils and vegetation were primed to soak up this weekend’s showers.
What This Means for Homeowners
Did you miss church Sunday morning because your alarm didn’t go off after the power blinked out overnight? You weren’t alone. Even a short outage can throw off an entire morning — and for some families, it can mean much more than a late start.
- Outages can happen even in “routine” storms. Saturday was a good reminder that it doesn’t take a hurricane to knock out power in scattered pockets.
- Connectivity is everything. If you work from home, have kids doing online schoolwork, or rely on internet-connected devices, a brief outage can still be a big disruption.
- Comfort and safety matter. Keeping A/C or heat, lighting, and refrigeration running makes storms easier to ride out — especially for seniors or anyone with home-based medical equipment.
How MALL Energy Home Prepares You for the Next One
MALL Energy Home installs and services standby generators from Kohler and Briggs & Stratton across Longview, Tyler, and the greater East Texas area. A professionally installed standby generator:
- Starts automatically within seconds of an outage
- Runs on natural gas or propane — no refueling hassle
- Powers essentials or your whole home (including HVAC, Wi-Fi, medical devices, and kitchen)
- Is
backed by local experts who know East Texas weather and utility grids
We also offer maintenance plans to keep your system ready before the next front, pop-up thunderstorm, or fall severe-weather day.
Let’s design a generator solution that fits your home and budget — from essential circuits to full-home coverage.
Want to Learn More About Protecting Your Home?
If Saturday’s storms got you thinking about how to better prepare, we’ve put together a few helpful resources:
- Power Outages by Season in East Texas — Learn when outages are most likely to hit and how to plan ahead.
- The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Standby Generator for Your East Texas Home — Find out which size and fuel type is best for your household.
- Why Regular Generator Maintenance Saves You Money in the Long Run — Discover how consistent upkeep ensures reliability and extends your generator’s lifespan.
Each of these articles dives deeper into topics that help East Texas homeowners stay powered, comfortable, and prepared year-round.
Head on over to our blog page for many more helpful articles on standby power, local weather prep, and home protection tips for East Texas families - or reach out to us today to speak with one of our local specialists about keeping your home ready for the next storm.
