Amid a series of devastating tornadoes that destroyed the homes of some of their co-workers, crews from a Texas electric cooperative moved quickly to restore power to thousands of their members.

Damage in the co-op served community of Granbury, Texas, was substantial after a series of tornadoes hit May 15. (Photo By: United Cooperative Services)

Six people were confirmed dead and seven were reported missing in the town of Granbury, a north Texas town on the lines of United Cooperative Services. A May 15 twister also injured dozens and flattened scores of homes in the area, a co-op official said.

“A whole subdivision has just been decimated,” said Marty Haught, chief communications officer at United Cooperative Services, based in Cleburne, where storm damage was also reported.

“The whole sequence of tornadoes lasted 30-40 minutes,” Haught said. “It felt like an eternity.”

Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service in Fort Worth found the tornado was as strong as EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Storm spotters in Texas posted video indicating that one tornado was at least a mile wide as it skipped across portions of Hood County, southeast of Granbury.

At the height of the damage, some 4,000 co-op members were in the dark, but “our guys got the lion’s share of outages back in a remarkably short period of time,” said Haught. Crews from the co-op’s six offices pulled all-nighters to restore power to all but 370 by 9 a.m. May 16, he said.

The co-op lost about 100 poles during the series of violent tornadoes and thunderstorms that continued overnight, but crews continued restoration work as conditions allowed. “Poles were pulled from the ground but we don’t know where they are,” said Haught. “In some cases, utility poles were completely wiped out.”

Restoration of the few hundred homes remaining continued late May 16, but crews were also working with public safety and other government agencies to access damaged areas, Haught said. “Individual outages take a long time because you either can’t get to the area or emergency officials restrict access.”

At least two co-op employees reported damage to their homes, but they have family in the area to assist them.

“Other staffers have been busy responding to the storm and will check for damage to their property later,” said Haught. “We’re prepared to assist the community with relief efforts as leaders learn more about what is needed.”

ECT.coop staff writer Victoria A. Rocha contributed to this article.

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Leaders of the nation’s electric cooperatives met with President Obama, as utility representatives urged the administration to make it easier for the industry to respond collectively to major disruptions or threats to grid reliability.

NRECA CEO Jo Ann Emerson (4th from left) was among utility executives meeting with President Obama, May 8. (Photo By: The White House)

Obama met May 8 with about three dozen utility executives, including NRECA CEO Jo Ann Emerson and Mel Coleman, NRECA Board vice president, to discuss their concerns stemming from the massive restoration effort that followed Superstorm Sandy.

“This was a ‘lessons learned’ self-critique that examined both the good and bad of the industry’s performance,” Emerson said following the session at Department of Energy headquarters.

“We were particularly interested in defining the role of utility workers and their support personnel as ‘first responders,’ critical to public safety and restoring vital services,” she said.

For electric co-op crews, their contractors, and other utility personnel, that means developing logistics and support systems that ensure fuel will be available to help them reach affected areas and power their equipment once they arrive.

It also means adequate and safe lodging in or near areas where mutual aid crews are assigned to work.

“President Obama seemed very engaged in the discussion during the time that he was with us,” said Emerson, adding that he met with the group for about 30 minutes. “There seems to be some interest among industry leaders to take those measures which were effective and make them permanent, and find ways to strengthen those areas where deficiencies were evident.”

Superstorm Sandy caused power outages that affected more 10 million people from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Coast after it struck the East Coast in late October. More than 67,000 lineworkers and support personnel from throughout the United States and Canada spent more than two weeks rebuilding damaged electric infrastructure in affected areas.

“The administration was able to put waivers in place to allow crews to temporarily remove local, state and federal regulatory barriers that otherwise could have slowed this unprecedented level of cooperation,” said Emerson. “We discussed the need to keep a working group in place so that we can collectively respond even more quickly when similar needs arise in the future.”

Participants said more support from  federal agencies might help address concerns about food, fuel and other critical supplies. They also suggested that similar cooperation between the industry and government might be applied to address emerging cyber security threats.

Utility executives wanted to know whether some of the problems might be solved by executive orders or changes in regulations, said Coleman, who is CEO of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative..

Lineworkers from his Salem, Ark.-based co-op helped with power restoration in Long Island, N.Y., and were offered Spartan lodging on cold concrete floors, more than 50 miles away.

“We need to look at everything that can be better next time,” said Coleman. “While co-ops have always worked together effectively, we need to be able to build stronger ties with public power entities and investor-owned utilities”

When people are hurting, the needs are real and getting service restored helps people, said Coleman. “The president and other federal officials need to consider ways the industry can respond effectively to any type of disruption, whether they are local storms, tornadoes, or regional disasters.”

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Heavy, wet snow fell in record-breaking amounts over parts of the central United States, making early May busy for some electric cooperative crews and reminding others that flood-related outages could lay ahead.

Heavy snow over the Centuria, Wis., area kept crews from Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative busy restoring power after a snow storm, May 2. (Photo By: Will Pennings/ Polk-Burnett EC)

“This late spring snowstorm knocked out power to about 2,500 of our members May 2,” said Teresa Whitcome, director of member and employee relations for People’s Energy Cooperative, headquartered in Oronoco, Minn.

As the snow melted, weakened tree limbs snapped, causing additional outages, Rich Kendall, a People’s E.C. lineworker, told reporters.

“It’s just a never-ending battle with the trees. Every time we get a member back on, we have to head immediately to a new location,” Kendall said.

In Iowa, electric co-ops reported more than 2,000 consumer-members without power May 2, after upwards of 10 inches of heavy, wet snow pelted the state, breaking a 66-year record for the month.

“The worst of the storm hit a narrow swath,” said John Dvorak, director of safety and loss control for the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives. “The extremely heavy, wet snow melted quickly and roads were very soft and muddy, which made restoring power a bit of a challenge.”

Widespread outages were also reported in Wisconsin, where more than 2,400 consumer-members of Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services were affected.

“The heavy snow and saturated ground made restoration efforts challenging for our crews to get into those hard-to-reach areas,” said Chris Tackmann, manager of marketing and administration, of Ellsworth, Wis.-based Pierce Pepin.

Three co-ops sent line crews to support our restoration efforts, said Tackmann. “Without their help, we wouldn’t have gotten the power back on as quickly as we did.”

Fall River REC foreman David Stone completes restoration connections with the help of lineman Dustin Bowersox following a recent windstorm. (Photo By: Fall River REC)

In Missouri, Farmers Electric Cooperative got help from four other co-ops and two contractors after high winds broke at least 45 poles, said Chasity Anderson, communications specialist for the Chillicothe-based co-op. “We could not have gotten power back on by Sunday morning without the teamwork of cooperatives helping cooperatives.”

Rapid snowmelt raised concerns about flooding along rivers, streams and creeks as rain-soaked ground threatened additional outages.

“Several days of heavy rain are causing trees outside the right of way to fall onto power lines in some areas,” said Renee Whitener, director of public relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp., based in Lenoir, N.C., May 6. “At one point more than 5,000 members were out of power.”

But even without precipitation, the wild weather of recent days has presented challenges for co-op crews. In Idaho, mountain winds of up to 65 mph have been reported.

“Crews have dealt with a number of outages, none of which exceeded more than 100 members out of our nearly 16,000 connections,” said Ted Austin, marketing and communications coordinator for the Ashton-based Fall River Rural Electric Cooperative. “In some cases, blowing dust from plowed farm fields has led to highway closures, which has made it even more challenging for our crews.”

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Tall trees buffeted by high winds are causing widespread outages across the service territories of several electric cooperatives across the West, and keeping crews scrambling to restore power to thousands of members.

Robbie Paden, Tri-County EC, replaces a crossarm replacement after high winds damaged transmission lines near Edna, Okla., May 1. (Photo By: JuliAnn Graham/Tri-County EC)

“We can get high winds any time of the year up here, but the past few days have been busy,” said Wendy Ostrom Price, public relations officer for Flathead Electric Cooperative, April 30. “In some areas winds have been blowing as high as 50 mph.”

The latest spate of windy weather began April 26, with a few scattered outages, but by April 29 more than dozen outages affecting about 3,000 of the Kalispell-based co-op’s nearly 62,000 meters were reported.

“The problem has been branches falling on power lines,” said Ostrom Price. “In most cases, our crews have been able to restore power to consumer-members within a couple of hours but they have been very busy.”

Crews have had to contend with whipping winds toppling towering trees—which lie beyond maintained rights-of-way—into power lines. They have also faced pelting rain and snow in mountainous areas.

“During our summers we get high winds and fast-moving thunderstorms; in winter its polar winds, said Ostrom Price. “With so many tall trees covering our service territory, outages like these are a year-round experience.”

Spring has not brought an end to winter-like problems for electric cooperative crews in several states. A series of cold fronts sweeping down from Canada have brought ice, freezing rain and spring snowstorms to portions of the Colorado, the Northern Plains and Oklahoma in recent weeks.

“We had an ice storm last week,” Erin Moore, member relations specialist at Tri-County Electric Cooperative, said May 1. That same day, a cold front moved in with wind gusts of 45 mph and sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph.

A broken crossarm on one of the Hooker, Okla.-based co-op’s transmission lines knocked out power to about 4,000 of its near 23,000 meters early May 1, said Moore. “Crews had to bring in one of our taller bucket trucks to complete repairs, but we had the majority of the outages restored within an hour.”

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Hard work under harsh conditions is paying off as electric cooperative staffers find creative ways to rebuild damaged systems and restore electricity to storm-ravaged areas.

A tornado that ravaged portions of Mississippi’s Noxubee County, April 11, destroyed dozens of Four County EPA’s utility poles. (Photo By: Jon Turner/4-County EPA)

Less than 48 hours after an F3 tornado swept across Mississippi’s Noxubee County, April 11, crews from 4-County Electric Power Association completed restoration work for more than 4,000 members who could safely receive service.

“We had about 80 broken poles, but the damage was localized,” said Jon Turner, manager of public relations and marketing for the Columbus-based co-op.

The tornado was on the ground for 68 miles, or nearly three times the average distance, but damage was narrowly defined, said Turner. “We had two heavy construction crews and we were able to rebuild the damaged line fairly quickly.”

More than 1,500 of 4-County EPA’s consumer-members lost power when another weather system moved through the co-op’s service territory, April 14, but co-op line crews quickly handled outages and restored affected service within hours.

In the northern plains, co-ops affected by mid-April snowstorms, freezing rain and hurricane force winds also reported significant restoration gains.

By April 14, Colman, S.D.-based Sioux Valley Energy completed restoration work, including replacing more than 140 poles.

While the co-op had an ample supply of poles, it didn’t have enough crossarms and rather than wait for shipments, brought in lumber to build them from scratch. Using hardware from its available inventory, an electrical contractor and several co-op meter support and warehouse staffers turned out about 80 crossarms that met Rural Utilities Service standards.

“I have only been at SVE a month,” wrote Tim McCarthy, general manager, in an update praising the work of Sioux Valley Energy staffers, mutual aid crews from seven other co-ops and two contractors who assisted. “I have witnessed the absolute dedication of the employees to make sure our members come first.”

Mutual aid also played an important role for Southeastern Electric Cooperative, which got a lot of help restoring service to about 8,000 of its 15,000 meters.

“It took pay loaders, 4×4 tractors and a lot of help from nine fellow electric cooperatives in the state through our mutual aid agreement,” said Bradley Schardin, general manager of the Marion, S.D.-based co-op. “We had nearly 40 additional linemen getting the power back on in addition to 30 plus Southeastern employees.”

Sioux Valley Electric’s Bob Johnson, Cody Fritz and Garth Park grapple new line into position for attachment to newly set poles. (Photo By: Sioux Valley Electric)

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Federated Rural Electric completed power restoration for 2,200 of its 5,000 members who were knocked offline after heavy wet snow and freezing rain damaged more than 1,200 poles throughout its system.

“We believe this ice storm will cost the cooperative $3 million to $5 million,” said Richard Burud, general manager of the Jackson-based co-op. “While we are thrilled that the power is restored to all residential accounts, the long-term recovery is just starting.”

Co-op staffers who’ve put in 15-hour days since the spring storm hit are cutting back to regular 8-hour shifts. Still, crews will be in the field for days raising neutral grounds into position, trimming damaged tree limbs and inspecting the system to determine where permanent repairs will be needed in the coming months.

“This ice storm drastically changes our workload for the rest of the year,” said Burud. “We may bring in contractors for our 2013 planned construction work, while our linemen keep up with members’ service rebuilds and new construction, plus permanent storm repairs.”

The spring storm dished up a full plate of headaches for Burud, who is also general manager Worthington-based Nobles Cooperative Electric. Crews in that co-op’s service territory worked to restore power to about 790 members, April 16.

“Crews continue to make great strides in reconstructing the distribution lines that were destroyed by this catastrophic storm,” said Burud. “Workers say this is one of the worst storms they have seen.”

Service has been restored to more than 2,700 Nobles CE meters since April 10, Burud  said. Consumer-members have been told that with more than 100 lineworkers involved in restoration, the goal of completion by Friday remains contingent upon the weather.

“The snow, ice, and wet conditions continue to make it physically demanding to pull wire and poles out of ice and snow covered ditches,” Burud said. “Initial reports show approximately 2,000 poles were damaged along with hundreds of miles of line.”

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Early spring was more like the dead of winter for tens of thousands of electric cooperative members, as high winds, ice storms and blizzard conditions ripped through power lines and disrupted electric service from the South to the Canadian border.

An ice-clad meter near Bradshaw, Neb., shows the conditions crews from Perennial Public Power District faced after an April 9 ice storm. (Photo By: Lisa Wurtele/PPPD)

Up to 15 inches of snow was reported in the upper Midwest, while ice accumulations of half-an-inch or more were common elsewhere.

In some areas, heavy wet snow, freezing rain and ice snapped poles and broke splices on power lines, causing outages. In others, transmission and distribution lines swayed heavily in hurricane-force winds, stressing structures to the point of collapse.

MISSISSIPPI

Portions of the service territory of 4-County Electric Power Association were hit by high winds and funnel clouds, April 11, knocking out electricity to about 6,000 members.

“What looked like a very large tornado passed through Noxubee County in the southern part of our service territory,” said Jon Turner, manager of public relations and marketing for the Columbus-based co-op. “We’ve got 50 to 60 three-phase poles down, along with a lot of transmission line.”

Co-op crews were working to set new poles and get lines lifted, even as heavy rain continued to pelt the area.

MINNESOTA

“We have dispatched all available line crews and are working as quickly as possible to repair significant damage to three Great River Energy transmission lines that serve Nobles Cooperative Electric substations,” said Therese LaCanne, manager of corporate communications for Great River Energy.

The Maple Grove, Minn.-based G&T was using its St. James, Minn., transmission service center to stage crews for restoration work in Worthington-based Nobles Cooperative Electric’s service territory, said LaCanne. “More than 45 of our structures were damaged by strong winds and heavy ice buildup since the storm started late April 9.”

NEBRASKA

“We’ve been dealing with foul weather since Tuesday afternoon,” said Lisa Wurtele, marketing and communications coordinator at York-based Perennial Public Power District. “We’ve had heavy ice buildup, particularly in the western portions of our service territory.”

More than 2,000 of the co-op’s 8,000 meters stopped spinning, as up to two inches of ice coated power lines, meters and other co-op infrastructure, but crews continued restoring power as long as conditions allowed them to work safely.

Sustained winds of 20-25 mph and gusts topping 40 mph caused a lot of problems with galloping lines,” Wurtele told ECT.coop, April 11. “We had some guys who’ve worked 20 to 24 hours since the storm hit, and we still have 40 to 50 members off.”

ARKANSAS

As many as four suspected tornados tore through Van Buren County in less than 25 minutes late April 10, according to meteorologists. Officials in Arkansas reported at least 55 homes damaged or destroyed and about 14,000 co-op consumer-members without service in the aftermath of the storm.

“The hardest hit cooperative was Petit Jean Electric Cooperative based in Clinton,” said Rob Roedel, manager of corporate communications for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas. “More than 9,000 of the cooperative’s 19,785 members were left in the dark when the storm crossed a 69-kilovolt transmission line and caused damage that disrupted power to six substations.”

Line crews were working  to restore service to about 3,500 members who were still without power, said Roedel, adding that at least 40 poles in Petit Jean EC’s service territory were broken.

“The area of damage is very rugged, mountainous terrain and aerial assessments occurred to pinpoint the restoration areas so crews can be dispatched. Construction crews from Arkansas Electric Cooperatives have also been sent to assist,” Roedel said. “Six additional Arkansas electric cooperatives also experienced outages to a lesser degree and were able to restore service overnight.”

COLORADO

Parts of the Centennial State reported heavy wet snow, April 9, which caused scattered outages in the service territories of several of electric co-ops.

A Sioux Valley Energy lineman examines sagging lines following an April 9 ice storm, which broke more than 200 poles. (Photo By: Sioux valley Energy)

“We had nearly 1,000 meters out from 25 separate outages in our service area,” said Indiana Reed, marketing and communications specialist of Durango-based La Plata Electric Association. “All but about six of those meters were restored by late afternoon, and the rest were handled within a few hours.”

OKLAHOMA

Kiwash Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Cordell, had up to three-quarters of an inch of ice over its service territory, said Sid Sperry of the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives.

“About a half dozen other co-ops reported scattered outages,” said Sperry, the statewide association’s director of public relations, communications and research. “Anadarko-based Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, one of our generation and transmission cooperatives, also reported some transmission problems caused by the ice which also affected some service.”

IOWA

“The storm dumped a lot of ice on parts of our service territory,” said Derald Philips, director of technology for North West Rural Electric Cooperative, based in Orange City.

The co-op lost a few poles and had less than 100 members without service by 5 p.m., April 10, but arcing, caused by melting ice, boosted those numbers to nearly 300, the following day, as crews continued to make repairs.

KANSAS

Sedgwick County Electric Cooperative Association, based in Cheney, Hays-based Midwest Energy, and Ark Valley Electric Cooperative Association, based in Hutchinson, were the co-ops reporting outages in the Sunflower State, said Shana Read, director of communications for Kansas Electric Cooperatives. “Their local crews were able to handle the restoration without mutual aid.”

SOUTH DAKOTA

“In response to this ice storm we have more than doubled the available crews we have assigned to restore power,” said Carrie Law, director of communications and government relations for Colman-based Sioux Valley Energy. “Seven other electric cooperatives have sent us lineworkers and we have two contract crews working.”

Heavy ice and high winds combined to bring down more than 200 poles throughout the co-op’s service territory, knocking about 3,600 of the co-op’s nearly 22,000 meters offline.

“We shut down 10 co-op substations so crews could clear ice from transmission lines, so our outage numbers temporarily increased to about 10,000,” said Law. “We’ve got significant damage to our distribution system, so it’s likely to take a day or two to rebuild.”

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with NRECA to make sure electric cooperatives have the information they need to use federal disaster assistance and mitigation programs effectively.

Hurricane Isaac was among the events that prompted 47 major presidential disaster declarations in 2012. (Photo By: Billy Gibson/ALEC)

Officials from the federal agency have agreed to participate in a webinar with NRECA members, April 24. The session will include discussions on completing essential paperwork for eligible reimbursements following presidentially declared disasters, FEMA audits and appeals.

“This webinar is geared toward anyone in the co-op nation who’s involved in emergency restoration after disasters,” said Martha A. Duggan, NRECA’s senior principal, regulatory affairs.

“We expect a fairly large audience, including financial people who compile the documentation, operational people who help get the lights back on, and attorneys who oversee contracts with vendors and service providers.”

The webinar is being held as NRECA prepares to release an updated version of its Guide to FEMA for Electric Cooperatives. Originally published in 2003, the guide now includes several revisions made to address changes in FEMA policies.

“We included updated information designed to help co-ops work with FEMA’s public assistance division under the special provisions covering electric cooperatives,” said Duggan.

Panelists are expected to discuss some of the changes to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Relief Emergency Assistance Act that was revised in 2013. Ernie Abbott, FEMA’s former chief counsel who now specializes in emergency management law, has written a memorandum on policy changes prompted by the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act, which will also be made available to webinar participants.

When weather events or other damages warrant presidential disaster declarations, affected co-ops work closely with their state emergency management agencies to document their costs.

“Changes in technology have actually helped us with that documentation,” said Duggan, adding that smartphones often carried by lineworkers can be used to take time-stamped photographs of damaged lines and other co-op assets.

“They come with date and time stamps and can be used by FEMA to help measure the extent of damage and establish a basis for reimbursement,” said Duggan.

“We’ll be looking at opportunities for mitigation grants and panelists will be prepared to discuss some potential projects,” said Duggan. “This is one area that FEMA is now focusing on because it is often more cost effective to improve or upgrade some systems to reduce the potential for future damage.”

Authorized users of cooperative.com (registration and password required) can register for the webinar.

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In the wake of harsh criticism following Superstorm Sandy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will continue issuing watches and warnings on tropical systems even after they morph into something more serious.

Superstorm Sandy caused major flooding in coastal areas of Delaware Electric Cooperative’s service territory. (Photo By: Jeremy Tucker/ Delaware EC)

A policy change, announced April 4, enables the National Hurricane Center to continue conveying information about weather systems even after atmospheric changes or their geographic locations alter their tropical status. Under the old policy, once NHC advisories stopped, future information came from lesser known weather service units.

The National Hurricane Center issued its last advisory on Hurricane Sandy at 11 p.m. eastern time, Oct. 29, just hours after the storm made landfall along the New Jersey shoreline, and sustained winds remained at hurricane strength.

Post storm reviews prompted discussions of whether watches, warnings and other advisories might have been taken more seriously had they been issued from the hurricane center.

“Our forecasters now have more flexibility to effectively communicate the threat posed by transitioning tropical systems,” said Louis W. Uccellini, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service.

As Hurricane Sandy moved inland, it combined with an early arctic weather system, knocking out electric service to more than 10 million people including more than 100,000 co-op consumer-members.

“Sandy’s forecast was remarkably accurate and under a similar situation in the future, forecasters will be able to choose the best option to underscore the urgency involved,” Uccellini said.

NOAA officials consulted emergency management officials before announcing the revised advisory protocals.

“Keeping communities safe when a storm threatens is truly a team effort,” said Rick Knabb, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. “This change reflects that collaboration.”

Superstorm Sandy prompted an unprecedented level of cooperation between personnel from electric co-ops investor-owned, municipal and utilities with more than 67,000 utility and contract personnel involved in restoration during the first two weeks following the storm’s landfall.

More than 80 deaths in 21 states from the Ohio Valley to New England were directly attributed to the storm; 82 other deaths are blamed on its indirect affects, federal officials said.

The new policy will be in place throughout the six-month Atlantic hurricane season, June 1- Nov. 30, said James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Center. “The changes we’re introducing this year will allow that flow of information to be very seamless.”

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Electric cooperative lineworkers in Virginia have been working long hours this month restoring electricity to consumer-members, following a series of storm incidents that coated trees and power lines with ice and snow, causing power outages for thousands.

A Rappahannock EC lineworker works power restoration duty following a spring snow storm in central Virginia, March 25. (Photo By: Rappahannock EC)

“The same three co-ops most affected by the outage event earlier this month have seen the bulk of the outages from this latest storm,” said Mary Howell. “However, the total number of outages is much lower – fluctuating around 12,000 statewide, throughout the morning hours of March 25.”

Howell, manager of member and public relations for the Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, spent nearly a week monitoring power restoration efforts following snow storms that moved through the lower Mid-Atlantic region March 5-6.

“Last time, nearly 140,000 co-op served meters in parts of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware were affected,” said Howell, from the statewide’s Glen Allen, Va., headquarters. “This time the numbers were much lower, but crews from unaffected co-ops in Virginia, and out of state aid from North Carolina and Maryland have been helping to get the lines back up.”

The late seasonal storm, coming days after the official arrival of spring, March 20, produced heavy, wet snow, knocking out power to about 6,600 members of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative.

The majority of the outages were in seven of the 22 counties in Rappahannock’s  service territory,  according to Ann Lewis, director of communications and public relations for the Fredericksburg, Va.,-based co-op.

“This type of precipitation sticks to and weighs down trees and limbs,” said Lewis in a March 25 interview with ECT.coop. “Many trees and branches are already broken or weak from the storm that occurred on March 6.”

Crews from eight co-ops converged on Rappahannock’s territory to join the co-op in round-the-clock restoration work. That reduced the outage figure to less than 200 by early March 26, Lewis said. “We hope to have everyone restored by the end of the day.”

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Winter went out with a bang for electric cooperative line crews in several parts of the country as a series of March storms rumbled across the U.S. knocking out power to thousands of co-op consumer-members.

This trampoline had to be removed from a utility pole in Mississippi before crews from 4-County EPA could restore power to affected members. (Photo By: 4-County EPA)

“We had hail nearly the size of quarters, and high winds that stripped roofing from buildings and blew trailers off of overpasses,” said Jon Turner, manager of public relations and marketing for 4-County Electric Power Association. “The damage was fairly limited and we had folks back on-line by dark.”

Influenced by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, a wildly snaking jet stream, and a late season arctic front plunging southward, unsettled cells of severe weather popped up, producing widespread destruction over relatively small, but widely dispersed areas. In some communities, travel advisories were posted restricting movement of mobile homes and empty trailers on bridges prone to buffeting winds.

“We had straight line winds through most of our service territory,” Jon Cullimore, manager of marketing and member services for Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative.

“Winds blew trees over into lines, but the worst damage was caused by lines severed by falling limbs and we’re still cleaning that up.”

The Talledega-based co-op was among six in Alabama affected by fast-moving severe storms that knocked out power to at least 40,000 co-op-served meters in the state.

“We’ve sent about 75 folks from five other co-ops to assist those hardest hit,” said Mike Temple, director of training and risk management for the Alabama Rural Electric Association. Crews from unaffected Alabama co-ops and about a dozen staffers from Mississippi co-ops began providing mutual aid assistance, March 19, and less than 7,000 outages remained late the following day.

“The bulk of the damage was caused by a lot of downed trees and broken poles,” said Temple, adding that problems characteristic of spring storms in Alabama appear to be getting off to an early start. “We’ve got a lot a lot of lines lying on the ground.”

In Georgia, crews from five of the state’s electric cooperative were working through scattered outages in the service territory of Carroll Electric Membership Cooperative. About one in five of the Carrollton-based co-op’s consumer-members were without power, late March 18, but power was restored to most co-op consumer-members who could safely recieve electricity, by March 21.

The numbers tell the story following a weekend winter storm in Tri-County Electric Cooperative’s Minnesota service territory. To find out more about the storm, click here. (Photo By: Brenda Tesch/Tri-County EC)

“The majority of problems stemmed from strong winds and fallen trees taking down several miles of line randomly scattered across the EMC system,” said Tommy Cook, the co-op’s construction manager.

“Wet soil and heavy winds are a bad combination causing tree damage to our lines,” said Cook. “There was also no central path to this storm, so our damage is spread out evenly across our system, making it very difficult to repair.”

In other areas, lineworkers have moved closely behind right-of-way crews to restore power as soon as chainsaws have reduced downed trees to manageable logs, dragged clear with ropes and tackle so trucks or four-wheelers could maneuver.

“We had a storm that rolled through the evening of March 10,” said Brenda Tesch, public relations director of Rushford, Minn.-based Tri-County Electric Cooperative. “Crews worked until about 10 p.m. the next night before everything was restored.”

Moisture from the Great Lakes combined with arctic air to produce heavy wet snow over the co-op’s service territory. With 27 co-op personnel in the field, crews used 13 vehicles to handle 91 separate outages, said Tesch. “There were 20 substations and 1,1,21 members affected, but we had everyone restored in 27 hours.”

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