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As the Austin area entered Day 3 of widespread electric outages in the state capital, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson on Friday apologized for the city's response, saying that it was unacceptable and promised change going forward.  
“I accept responsibility on behalf of the city and I apologize that we have let the people down in Austin,” Watson said. “Providing clear, accurate and timely communication to the public is essential in an emergency like this and once again the city hasn’t delivered. This has been a persistent challenge over the past several years and public frustration is absolutely warranted.”

The response has garnered criticism from the community as nearly 115,000 customers were still without power as of 3 p.m. Friday, leaving many in the dark and cold and forcing the closures of businesses and schools. Despite thawing temperatures, some roads remained challenging because of fallen debris and knocked-out traffic signals.

Austin and Travis County officials said they will continue to work on restoring power and clearing debris, but it could still be several more days before things return to normal.

Travis County Judge Andy Brown said the county is still seeking a disaster declaration in conjunction with the city, which could help fund and speed up recovery, but that decision won’t be made until late Friday.

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According to outage map, there are still more than 119,000 customers without power as of noon Friday.  
Jackie Sargent, general manager for Austin Energy, said that crews were still working to restore power throughout the area.  
There was still not update on how soon power could be restored to customers, but Sargent said the more than 100 crews are out addressing each outage to restore power as soon as possible.  
She said a total of 182,159 customers have seen power restored since outages began early Wednesday. Since 7 a.m. Friday, she said more than 49,000 customers have had power restored.  

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