09/01/2011 Ameren Illinois Crews See Mighty Devastation On The East Coast
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RUTLAND, VT
Mark Drawve is an electrical superintendent with Ameren's Mattoon office. He and fellow crew members are working to restore power in the Rutland area of the state served by Central Vermont Public Service.
Drawve says the flooding has washed entire sections of power lines away, meaning those lines must be completely rebuilt. In addition, Drawve says the flooding has washed out roads, making it hard for their crews to travel around the region.
"We sent some crews Sunday evening to areas that they knew would be impacted by the flash floods. And because of that, until they get some roads repaired, we can't even get those crews back, or hooked up back with the main force. And they continue to work on those roads as we speak."
With all these difficulties, Drawve says line crews restored power to about 18-thousand Central Vermont Public Service customers on Monday. He says Ameren crews did the work for about 6-thousand of those customers.
Drawve says he hopes most customers will have their power back by the end of Tuesday. But he says his Ameren crews are not used to working in Rutland's hills and valleys -- and there's talk of moving them to another area, and bringing in a Canadian crew more familiar with that type of terrain.
Mark Drawve is an electrical superintendent with Ameren's Mattoon office. He and fellow crew members are working to restore power in the Rutland area of the state served by Central Vermont Public Service.
Drawve says the flooding has washed entire sections of power lines away, meaning those lines must be completely rebuilt. In addition, Drawve says the flooding has washed out roads, making it hard for their crews to travel around the region.
"We sent some crews Sunday evening to areas that they knew would be impacted by the flash floods. And because of that, until they get some roads repaired, we can't even get those crews back, or hooked up back with the main force. And they continue to work on those roads as we speak."
With all these difficulties, Drawve says line crews restored power to about 18-thousand Central Vermont Public Service customers on Monday. He says Ameren crews did the work for about 6-thousand of those customers.
Drawve says he hopes most customers will have their power back by the end of Tuesday. But he says his Ameren crews are not used to working in Rutland's hills and valleys -- and there's talk of moving them to another area, and bringing in a Canadian crew more familiar with that type of terrain.
