Manager's Message
Swisher Electric crew returns from Hurricane Relief
A four-man crew from Swisher Electric left September 27th for San Augustine in southeast Texas to help rebuild power lines downed by fallen trees, flooding, and other devastation from hurricane Rita. The Category 3 hurricane came ashore near Sabine Pass September 24. A four-man crew comprised of crew chief Brian West, and linemen Henry Cruz, J.D. Watson, and Adam Nolen volunteered to go help Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative, taking two service bucket trucks and an SUV. They were down there for 10 days, returning home October 6th.
Swisher Electric was contacted by Texas Electric Cooperatives, the statewide association in Austin, on whether SEC could offer any assistance to those sister electric cooperatives suffering damages to their systems. Manager Castleberry replied in the affirmative, stating that SEC had two four-man crews who volunteered to go, and that we could afford to send them in two shifts of 10 days each. Castleberry called Larry Warren, manager of Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative, and said, "Although SEC is about a third the size of Deep East EC in manpower, we could offer to send them a four-man crew with two small bucket trucks if that would help." Warren appreciated the offer of help, but after the first few days the first crew was down there, Warren called Castleberry and said that with all the help Deep East Texas EC had received from all over, the relief crew would not be needed. The relief crew that had volunteered to go was headed by crew chief Oscar Garza, with linemen Joe McDowell, Cade Lange, and Lucas Cooper, who also had been scheduled to be down there 10 days.
The first couple of days, the SEC crew stayed in a motel in Nacogdoches, working in the San Augustine area. Someone from the Deep East co-op would show them to job sites as they finished in each area. The next few days, the SEC crew was working with a four-man crew from Deep East Texas EC, also in the San Augustine area. Crew chief Brian West relayed the feelings of the people in the area as they went from job site to job site, "We got a little housing addition on and people were clapping and cheering and hugging us. The people here have been real nice and friendly. One couldn't believe we were from the Panhandle. He couldn't believe someone (a cooperative) that far away would send someone."
West and his crew spent the remainder of their days working in the Toledo Bend Reservoir area "picking up phases" with a two-man crew from the co-op, staying in a San Augustine motel. They were long, hard days, starting at 6 or 7 a.m. and working till 8 p.m. West said Deep East Texas EC treated the Swisher bunch well, paying for their breakfast and supper every day, and bringing sandwiches out to the crews at the job site for lunch.
Immediately after Hurricane Rita hit east Texas, 97% of Deep East Texas EC's members were without service due to the raging hurricane force winds. Residents there were without lights, water, and communication and were faced with a severe shortage of gasoline. They experienced housing and highway over-population as neighbors to the south sought refuge from the storm.
Seven days after the storm, Deep East had restored service to approximately 29,000 customers thanks in large part to co-op crews such as Swisher's who had come to help. B.P. Steptoe, director of operations at Deep East Texas EC, said this left only 25% of their members still without power a week after the storm.
It was a 570-mile drive for the Tulia crew to San Augustine, Texas. Although Hurricane Rita was not as destructive to Texas as it might have been, some rural residents were expected to be without electricity for as long as a month. Some of the co-op work could not be completed until the transmission company Entergy made major repairs to its line.
Castleberry said, "Many Texas cooperatives responded to calls for assistance in Louisiana just a few weeks ago, and in turn, as a Touchstone Energy cooperative, Swisher Electric is glad to be able to help our fellow Texas cooperatives now." Although SEC's crew was able to stay in motels, it wasn't clear at the time they left where they would be staying.
Castleberry said, "Mr. Warren gave me an indication of the conditions in his area by saying the men might be sleeping in tents or the warehouse until other accommodations opened up. I indicated to Mr. Warren that I hope we help in some small way in the restoration of power for their members." According to Castleberry, "That's what being a Touchstone Energy Cooperative is all about."