October Ice Storm Shows No Mercy

It wouldn't be 2020 without another unprecedented event. This time, it was a record-breaking, early-season ice storm...while the leaves had yet to fall off the trees.

"While we couldn't have predicted a storm of this magnitude this early in the season, we have spent the last few years preparing for it," said Vice President of Operations Marty Hayes. [5719300301]

As CEO Patrick Grace discussed on page 2, board, management and staff have dedicated much of the last five years to strengthening our electrical system. Because of that, most affected members had power restored within a day or two. For others, it took up to seven days for crews to rebuild lines and replace broken poles. Customers of other electric utilities were without power for weeks.

“OEC employees stepped up as usual working long hours to restore service to our members,” said Hayes. "I couldn't be prouder of the group effort."

At its peak, the ice storm knocked out power to 19,900 OEC members. Our power supplier, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, lost 19 miles of transmission lines between Pocasset and Bridge Creek. OEC called in back-up to help restore members — a total of 157 workers from OEC, contractors and mutual aid crews from Ozarks Electric Cooperative and Rich Mountain Electric Cooperative in Arkansas worked until all members had power restored.

"This was the first ice storm in a long time to cause damage across the entire OEC system," said Hayes.

Poles were changed in all seven counties we serve.

Ice storms are the trickiest types of storms for electric co-ops. Not only do outages occur as ice accumulates, but also as it melts and, in winter months, re-freezes.

In the midst of a storm and long working hours, messages of gratitude are always appreciated by employees. This event was no exception, as members flooded OEC’s Facebook page with warm wishes and thanks.

“It’s important for members to know how dedicated our employees are, not just the linemen, but everyone from the dispatch room, to member services, to those making sure we had hot meals to eat.” said CEO Patrick Grace.

It’s a team effort when storms hit, and we look for ways to improve the system at every turn so the members aren’t without power any longer than they have to be.

The sun shines on the restoration project days after the ice storm passed.