OT: Hurricane - utility workers

JML755 · Sep 14, 2017

I don't get it. Some woman posted on FB that her husband is a lineman from an outstate utility company sent down to Florida and has had only ONE sandwich in 2 days. The plea is "if you see a lineman in Florida, offer him/her water and food". Huh?

OK, nice gesture to offer something to the people sent in to help and I would certainly do that but if I was a utility worker driving a truck in to help restore power, I'd have had cans of food, bread, chips, cases of water, etc. stuffed into every nook and cranny of my truck. I would be going in there prepared for the worst case scenario. Great if you can get a hot meal at a shelter where you're sleeping or some ice for dealing with the temps/humidity, but if you haven't thought ahead and go in empty handed, well...... This applies to the company management sending them down there as well. Wasn't there a plan for feeding these guys? I mean, they're working 16 hr shifts and it makes sense to have support people with them so they don't have to scrounge for sustenance and have the strength to do a tough job in high temps/humidity. Am I missing something or is the poster citing an isolated incident? Anybody else heard anything about this?

Mike M · Sep 14, 2017

You do make a good point. The companies sending them down should maybe also send a food truck too. I'm not sure how they do it. I know I would not want to do it !

I like the video of the NUN with chainsaw cutting up the tree ! Way to go and good for her. I did feel sorry for her in that it appeared to not cut worth a darn. Chain must be super dull or on backwards ? It was cutting so poor I was thinking how bad I'd be cursing it.

dcarp · Sep 14, 2017

Hadn't heard that. When the crews staged here in
Schulenburg they were given catered meals.

JDEM · Sep 14, 2017

I noticed in the nun-video that at one point, she was moving the chainsaw back and forth as if it was a hand-saw. Kind of a strange photo-op. Seems she could of taken off her habit and gotten into some real work clothes. Nothing in the bible that I know that says she can't. Seeing that nun in her habit reminds me of when I was a kid getting hit with a wooden ruler by one of several nuns in habits.

4520BW · Sep 14, 2017

I know that back in march of 96 we had a bad ice storm and most of the REMCs service was without power. An REMC from Ohio sent help and when they were out the farm I offered them snacks and drinks. They said so many people had fed them already they were stuffed. I had some beer in a snow drift keeping cool but they declined as they had another stop yet. They said most of the people were so thankful but one person started ripping them about tacking so long to get there , so they took a lunch break and forget to go back there!

kenny kabat · Sep 14, 2017

Being a construction lineman, I can
comment. The utility companies WILL NOT pay
for a food truck, or laundry etc. We are
focused on restoring power. By the time we
load our trucks with material, clothes,
extra fuel, and all the tools to do our job,
no room left. We usually work 16-20 hour
days. We have slept in churches, gymnasium,
and in our trucks. Sure we make a good
check, but wouldn't you if you stayed on
the clock 20 hours a day for 14 days? Even
in devastation big business wants to cut
corners

W_B · Sep 14, 2017

A friend's son-in-law is a lineman for AEP in Ohio and has been "deployed" several times. He said they were always treated well.

Cmore · Sep 14, 2017

At $2,000 per worker per 24 hours.

Billy Shafer · Sep 14, 2017

I was in a certain state next to Texas. Helping out with generator hook ups.Six months later got a tax bill from that state. Never paid it and never went back.

ss55 · Sep 14, 2017

If the crew is working in an isolated area, one that is badly devastated or one where the people are not allowed to return yet, it's possible that food is hard to find.

We were out of electricity for three days this summer after a small tornado wiped out a half mile of power line. We really appreciated the utility crews from other areas that came to help at that time. I can't imagine how much work it will take to restore power everywhere that Irma damaged.

JDEM · Sep 14, 2017

I see a lot of anecdotal reports on places like FB with doom and gloom about the hurricanes. Much looks like nonsense to me.
I was sent down south by the power company I worked for in the 70s. We got food allowance and housing allowance. Plenty of
it. My dad did the same in the 50s and 60s. Kind of a fun adventure each time. I find it hard to believe in these modern
whining times that any power company is forcing lineman to travel down south and starve.

Much of this stuff is silly. Not exactly what I call a "natural disaster" when people build substandard housing in an area
prone to hurricane and flood damage. Especially the Keys. You'd think after the Labor Day hurricane that was a Cat 5 back
in the 30s, they'd learn a lesson?

We were camping in the Michigan UP all week and did not get much news. What I did see what "questionable." Like the woman
crying because a family member would die without a generator? Well duh. If that WAS the case, maybe buying one before a
hurricane might make sense? I also saw a report of two cops (man and woman) killed in the "line of duty" near Naples and
Punta Gorda. I found out later it was two prison workers who drove head-on into each other and not storm related?

oldtanker · Sep 14, 2017

It could be the truth. Depends on where they are at. Some of the areas were forced evacuated so there are very few people there. Those that did stay may not have food to spare. Stores are closed, no places that serve meals open. If these guys didn't bring anything they may not have anything.

It's kinda like when Katrina hit. People were yelling while the hurricane was still blowing "why doesn't Bush order in the military?". OK, had the military been ordered in before the hurricane hit they could have done something. But during it? Where are the service members going to shelter to get some sleep when needed? Take care of personal hygiene? Sure you can give them MRE's but what about hot meals? Sorry, you cannot send people in without support.

Rick

popper50 · Sep 14, 2017

Worked for utility company 35 years, when you get 16 continuous hrs in you go on double time and stay on double time till you get 8 hr rest, so they only take 7 to stay on double time all the time their gone, they get meal allowances for every meal, a lineman in my area makes around 40 bucks a hr straight time, try to send them on straight time and you will have very few who would go,

jddrawbar · Sep 14, 2017

If it's on FB, it has to be true.......

Mike M · Sep 14, 2017

She may of made more progress hacking at it with the ruler ? LOL.

Cue P. · Sep 14, 2017

American Electric Power Ohio crews staged at Epcot Center.

pete black · Sep 14, 2017

Having worked the electric Utilities industry for 42
years, worked numerous bad storms at home and distance
locations and dispatch crews to hard hit areas, Katrina
and Flordia, I doubt that to be the case. Utities in
trouble have mutual aid agreements and take great care
and pride in providing the best accommodation and food
AVAILABLE. "Available" varies as restoration precedes.
Initially cold meals may be all that can be provided
but will improve, typically a hot breakfast, cold lunch
and a hot supper. One of the most remembered of any

pete black · Sep 14, 2017

Continuted; one of the must remembered thing of any restoration effort is how well crews were taken care of.

Bob in SD · Sep 14, 2017

My (12 year old) daughter watched part of the nun video. As the nun went to cut down on a branch, daughter said "she ought to cut that one from the bottom, it's gonna pinch". Sure enough... After it pinched, daughter had to rewind to show Mom (who doesn't participate in chainsaw activities) exactly what was going on. I enjoyed the lesson!

Lumbersawyer · Sep 14, 2017

My company sent 35 linemen down to Florida. They also sent two workers whose job it is to supply the workers with food and water. They are well cared for, and safety is top priority. We in northern MN are not use to the warm weather that they have down south, so all precautions are taken.

KenL · Sep 14, 2017

I worked for a power contractor as a mechanic. Went to many disaster areas. Tornado, hurricane, ice,
etc. Some places were so bad they couldn't get enough food in. More than once there were no places
available to sleep so you slept in or on the truck or set up a tarp hammock between trucks.
Conditions were beyond belief. Unless you were there, there is no way to imagine what its like. Often
linemen who had some food gave it to people who had nothing and the linemen went hungery. You have to
be there at least once before you complain about it.

kenny kabat · Sep 14, 2017

All the people only see the money we make. Well said

Hobo,NC · Sep 14, 2017

BTDT and look'N for the trucks and HOPE they stop... Take most anyone off the grid for a week and they will be on the look out for a power co. truck... My bro was a linesman and chomped at the bit to get to places like this... $$$$$$ they deserve all they can get!

OT: Hurricane - utility workers

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