City of Thomasville Utilities electric workers loaded up their trucks and hit the road to provide assistance in Tallahassee after severe weather wreaked havoc on power systems, leaving large areas without power.
Tuesday afternoon's severe weather caused double-digit broken utility poles in Tallahassee; each of which can take several hours to replace under the best conditions. As a result, Electric Operations Manager Brent Alderman, Lead Lineman Jarrett Turnbull, and Apprentice Linemen Jessie Mayfield and Scott Stephens loaded up two bucket trucks and one line truck and headed to Florida to lend a hand.
According to the City of Tallahassee’s Manager of Power Transmission & Distribution, Tony Guillen, Jr., the process of restoring services to the community goes a lot faster with additional boots on the ground.
“Tallahassee was hit extremely hard yesterday with rain and strong winds, and having crews come in from the City of Thomasville was incredibly helpful and very much appreciated,” he said.
Director of Electric Operations Bruce Whittington said that anytime City of Thomasville Utilities can spare the resources, help will always be given.
“We will always answer the call when our sister cities need help,” Whittington said. “The City of Tallahassee has come to our aid in the past, so we were more than ready to help them restore services for their community.”
While the worst of the storm was experienced in areas south of Thomasville, its affects were felt locally. Approximately 2,000 customers experienced an interruption in electric service as heavy winds and multiple downed trees lead to several broken utility poles in the city of Thomasville.
“Our crews did a great job of coordinating with City of Thomasville Public Works and CNS staff members to clear debris and restore services,” Whittington said. “However, three utility poles were broken during the worst of the storm, which meant that our guys had some long hours to work in order to make sure all customers were back to full service as quickly as possible.
“I applaud their hard work and dedication to serving not just our community, but our sister cities as well,” he added.