The February ice storm added tremendous weight to the lines of Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, breaking poles and making it extremely difficult to get to downed lines and get infrastructure back up.
Be Your Brother’s Keeper
During May Electrical Safety Month, it’s a good time to reflect upon the challenging weather we’ve all experienced this year and why it’s so important to prepare now to keep our families safe in the future.
We salute the many co-op line technicians and field employees who worked 16-plus hour days to restore power during the ice and winter storms in February.
Despite the many punches Mother Nature threw day after day, week after week — beginning with sleet, snow and ice, and followed by record flooding — the co-op family kept fighting. The ice added tremendous weight to power lines, breaking poles and making it extremely difficult to restore power to many. Our crews spent days rebuilding entire line sections and replacing hundreds of broken poles.
New challenges seemed to emerge every morning, but the linemen never quit.
Though the threat of winter storms has passed, spring and summer may bring more severe weather. So now is a good time to think ahead and prepare. We can all do that by:
• Having an emergency kit, non-perishable food and extra water in our homes.
• Purchasing a back-up generator and installing it correctly and safely. We can advise you.
• Developing a plan for family members who depend on medical devices that require electricity.
• Elevating your furnace, electrical panel and other appliances if your home has a high flood risk.
Safety is EKPC’s number one priority. Let’s all renew our commitment to stay safe and be our brother’s keeper.