ADVANCE, MISSOURI (WSIL) - Crews worked throughout the day, cleaning up after severe thunderstorms made their way through the area late Monday night.
“As soon as the outages started coming in we were dispatching crews,� said Loyd Rice, Fiber Services Manager for SEMO Electric Coop.
And it's been a busy day for the crew at SEMO Electric.
"We had everyone in by about 11 PM last night,� said Rice.
In Advance, more than 1,000 of SEMO’s nearly 1200 homes lost power.
“Advance, Bell City, New Hamburg area, Chaffee, Kelso,� said Rice, “really the same amount of damage right here in Advance specifically seemed to have the most as far as an in-town situation.�
Before linemen can restore power, tree limbs have to be removed. And it isn’t just a limb or two crews are dealing with, but in some cases, the entire fork of the tree
“It was scattered from about north of Bloomfield all the way up to Jackson territory on the north and it pretty much covered us from west to east, all the way to the river,� said Rice.
And part of the challenge with clean-up and restoring power was how widespread the damage was.
“It's just so scattered that all our resources are so spread out that it's not necessarily we cant converge on one area,� said Rice
And as a reminder, Rice says to always stay away from downed powerlines and let crews handle any cleanup
“On [a] storm like this, with spring storms that bring tree limbs, staying away from that scene, staying away from downed powerlines is the most important,� said Rice.
And whether it's 4,000 homes or just one, Rice says the job is only done once everyone has their power restored.
“At a rural coop specifically that is our M.O.,� said Rice. “That is what we do. We will be here at some point later tonight when all this mess is cleaned up putting this one service back in power.�
