2:30 p.m.

Nearly 800 Southwestern Electric members are presently without power due to strong winds and ice delivered by today’s winter storm. “The freezing rain that fell today turned to ice on our power lines,” said Joe Richardson, the co-op’s communications coordinator. “The wind is catching that ice, resulting in a lot of movement—or galloping—along the lines.” Richardson said the force generated by the movement is strong enough to shear bolts and snap crossarms. “That’s what our linemen are seeing. They’re in the field now, repairing damage from wind and ice.”

Crews have replaced broken poles and repaired damaged crossarms throughout the cooperative’s service area. Sections of the co-op’s distribution system near New Douglas and Reno were particularly hard hit. Presently, about 400 members in the New Douglas and Reno region are without power. The outage is affecting members south of New Douglas to Old Ripley, and from Reno east to Woburn Road, including the area from the Bond-Montgomery county line to Governor Bond Lake.

As of 2:30 p.m., crews continued to patrol lines, identify new damage and make repairs. “As long as ice and wind remain part of the storm, we’re going to see galloping lines, and new damage to the system,” Richardson said. “We have 3,500 miles of line, and the storm is moving across every inch of our service area. Our crews are working safely and as quickly as they can to restore power.”

Members are reminded to avoid all downed and low-hanging power lines. The lines may be energized, or become energized without warning.