Work Crews Spend Several Hours Restoring Power To Damaged Areas

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)-Thousands in our area were without power after Sunday’s storms.

In Noxubee County, 4 County Electric Power Association spent much of the morning getting the lights back on.

Bucket trucks and crew members being lifted several feet off the ground were common sights as they worked to bring light to a dark situation.

“It’s not just a pull up and go to work kind of thing,” said Eric Yarbrough, construction worker with 4 County EPA. “It’s a process that we have to assess and hit the areas that we can get to the quickest, with the most customers, and that’s with the vital feeds and the more populated areas to get all those meters back turning.”

Yarbrough said the sometimes lengthy process starts with replacing down power lines with brand new ones, along with putting up new wires and transformers that were damaged.

“When you get there and you see the devastation and the damage, you start putting together in your mind how you are going to put it back together,” said Yarbrough. “You knew how it was, so you start thinking about what poles to set first, where to put the wire, what materials to bring, what supplies you’re going to need. Your mind is constantly going on getting that line back up.”

After spending hours putting the poles and wires in place, and getting everything in position, Yarbrough said it takes constant communication between one another to successfully flip the switch.

“Then we clear ourselves of the grounds, we communicate with each other and the dispatcher, and we’re able to pick that line back up as far as re-energizing it, and then put all the transformers and the meters back on line that were out,” Yarbrough explained.

The timeline it takes to turn the power back on differs depending on each situation.

However, Yarbrough said the one thing that doesn’t differ is ensuring they’re following proper safety protocol throughout the entire process.

“When we first show up we’re going to clear it up to where we are safe, and we’re going to work safe, regardless of how long it takes, safety is number one,” Yarbrough expressed.

Following Sunday’s storm, workers with 4 County EPA repaired roughly 70 poles in the nine counties they serve.

So far 4 County has managed to restore power to some of the areas that were damaged.

To track the progress being made in your area, just visit their website.