I’ve been on the ground with SWEPCO over the past several days, helping to restore power following the storms that swamped many areas of the Ark-La-Tex. Our community experienced relentless rain, damaging winds and flooding conditions that also damaged SWEPCO’s energy system.
Soon after the storm my crew and I joined forces with nearly 900 workers dedicated to getting the lights back on. Crews came to join us from our sister utilities at Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), AEP Texas and elsewhere in SWEPCO’s service territory. It’s truly been a team effort!
Because of the extensive flooding and hard-to-reach, sometimes treacherous terrain, the work has been slow but deliberate. Safety for one another has been top of mind as we worked in dangerous conditions.
We’ve brought in crews and contractors with specialized track equipment to access damaged areas and have leveraged resources on the ground, in the air and on boats so we could make our way to where the work needed to be done.
In the Natchitoches area we found downed power lines, broken poles and fallen trees with repairs needed in heavily wooded areas with saturated ground. Similarly, many of those repairs will require specialized equipment.
As you might expect, flooding creates a unique and dangerous restoration environment. Flooding can make it more difficult to safely make repairs, which may result in longer than usual power restoration times.
Photos of storm damage and restoration are on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
We remain focused on restoring power to all remaining customers as quickly as we can. Our forestry team also is making plans to remove the downed trees to help clear the way for our line workers to restore power.
As of Thursday at 6 p.m., approximately 95 percent of customers within Natchitoches have had power restored. We estimate remaining customers in Hornbeck and Mansfield areas will have power restored late Friday. We’ll do our best to safely reach that goal!
As always, we thank you for your patience and kindness. Our community is stronger together and we’re proud to be a part of yours.
Sincerely,
Jermaine B.
Senior Lineman in Natchitoches area
SWEPCO Storm Restoration Team
