Natural Gas Leak Prompts Evacuations in Southwest Lubbock

UPDATED 7:45pm, May 20, 2015

Atmos Energy crews have capped the off the gas leak late Wednesday afternoon.

Residents will be allowed to return to their homes later in the evening.

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City of Lubbock crews working at 98th Street and Chicago Avenue accidentally punctured a gas line just before 1pm, Wednesday afternoon.

Initially only a few homes were evacuated and traffic diverted from 98th Street as firefighters and Atmos Energy crews arrived on the scene.

The leak was discovered to be larger than originally thought and by 2:15pm, about 160 homes were evacuated in a half-mile radius.  KAMC News reports that homes have been evacuated in an area from 98th Street to the north, 102nd Street to the south, Frankford Avenue to the west and Chicago Avenue to the east.

As of 2:30pm, Atmos Energy tells the Lubbock Fire Department that they expect repairs to take three hours to complete.  Natural gas service will be shut-off for homes and businesses near the affected area and Atmos expects for delays in restoring service in Southwest Lubbock.

Residents that were evacuated from their homes can go to the Dickey's BBQ parking lot at 5217 98th Street (98th & Slide). A first responder staging area has been set up at that parking lot.