WEC restores power quickly following Fred

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Posted by: Staff
Date: Aug 17 2021 4:28 PM

HARTFORD, Alabama — Wiregrass Electric Cooperative restored power to about 2,200 meters in less than eight hours following Tropical Storm Fred’s direct hit on the area Monday.

After winds subsided to a safe level around 10 p.m. Monday, WEC’s linemen and contract crews addressed the outages quickly. Despite having to fix about 2,200 outages, crews whittled the outage total to approximately 10 by 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“At Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, we highly esteem excellent service, and our crews exemplified that during the response to Tropical Storm Fred,” said Les Moreland, WEC’s CEO. “As soon as it was safe to work outside, our crews tackled the challenges efficiently and safely. We thank Vice President of Engineering and Operations Jason Thrash and his staff for a job well done.”

“Our personnel essentially worked or were on stand-by most of Monday before tackling a great number of outages overnight,” added WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro added. “Crews continued to address lingering outages into the workday Tuesday. This commitment is to be commended and demonstrates why WEC is big enough to serve and local enough to care.”

Tropical Storm Fred made landfall near Cape San Blas, Florida, at about 2:15 p.m. Monday with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. Its path took it directly over Houston County, the eastern edge of WEC’s territory, while the storm unleashed maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.

The winds impacted trees and limbs, some of which toppled power lines. WEC crews had to replace two broken utility poles following the storm.

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