UPDATE 1-Power outages rise to 245,000 in Texas after storm

(Recasts, updates figures; changes dateline from NEW YORK)

HOUSTON, June 11 (Reuters) - Customers without electric power in North Texas rose to 245,000 by mid-day Thursday as heavy rain and lighting hampered efforts by crews to restore power in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, said a spokeswoman for the Oncor power company.

High winds and rain pounded the area for a second day Thursday, knocking down poles, trees and power lines.

Crews had managed to reduce the number of customers without power to 145,000 earlier in the day but more lightning and wind Thursday knocked out additional customers and kept crews on the sidelines due to safety concerns, she said.

Oncor said it called in 550 additional contract line crew members, 1,100 additional tree-trimming crew members, a 60-person storm team from OGE Energy Corp's (OGE.N) Oklahoma Gas & Electric and a 60-person team from Houston-based CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP.N).

Oncor expects contractors to arrive Thursday, some from as far away as Alabama, Missouri and Louisiana.

Oncor transmits and delivers power to about 3 million homes and businesses across North Texas.

Oncor is a unit of Energy Future Holdings. which has three business units - TXU Energy, a competitive electricity retailer; Luminant, a competitive power generation business; and Oncor, a regulated power distribution and transmission business. (Reporting by Eileen O'Grady and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)