Texas, New Mexico Xcel customers may be without power for days. Here’s what to know.

Thousands of Xcel Energy customers across the Texas Panhandle, South Plains and New Mexico may be without power into the weekend and early next week, according to a Friday evening update from Xcel.

High winds, which brought gusts of up to 80 mph and low visibility, started to sweep through the area early Friday. This event has led to crashes and power outages across the region.

Ahead of the event, Xcel Energy warned customers that there could be Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) and a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) in the Panhandle area. These were implemented early Friday and cut power to 17,000 customers. However, outages had reached 67,639 by 3:43 p.m., according to Xcel’s outage map. By 7:30 p.m., that number had decreased to about 55,000.

With widespread damage, power restoration times for individual customers will vary based on a number of factors. Initial restoration estimates as of Friday evening were:

• Customers in southeastern New Mexico will likely be mostly restored by Friday night.

• For those in the greater Lubbock area, most customers will be restored by Saturday.

• For those in or between the Amarillo and Clovis, New Mexico region, where damage is mostextensive, Xcel expects some customers to be out until early next week.

After the winds have subsided, Xcel’s crews need to inspect the entire length of their lines and make repairs before the power can return. Crews will be working through the weekend on the 2,500 miles of lines.

Xcel’s outage map is updated every 10 minutes, and customers can check it for estimated restoration times at outagemap-xcelenergy.com/outagemap/?state=TX.

“We understand outages are challenging, and we appreciate your patience as crews continue to work to restore power to areas affected by this significant windstorm,” Xcel said in the release.

The company offered a list of resources to assist customers without power.

Impacted customers near Amarillo, Canyon, Palisades and Wheeler, TX, can access electricity and otherbasic resources at a Community Resource Center:

• Warford Community Center, 1330 NW 18th Ave., Amarillo, TX 79107

• Cole Community Center, 300 16th St., Canyon, TX 79015

• Palisades Community Center, 110 Brentwood Rd, Amarillo, TX 79118

• Wheeler County Agrilife Center, 7939 US-83, Wheeler, TX 79096

With Friday’s exceptionally high winds and dry conditions forecast in advance, Xcel Energy shut off power beginning Friday morning for about 17,000 customers in eastern New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle and South Plains region as a public safety measure to reduce the risk of wildfires.

In addition to this Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS), the intense winds caused significant damage leading to additional outages. Most of Friday’s outages were a result of the intense winds, unrelated to the PSPS, according to the company.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Panhandle, Amarillo Xcel customers may be without power for days