At 6 p.m. the Enning and Rapid City crew were called in due to the dangerous conditions. The Rapid City crews were back at it by 9:00 pm when the conditions had improved enough to head out and restore power to those they could get to. By noon on the 26th we were able to evaluate and see that we lost power to the Elm Springs, Quinn, Enning, Pedro, Creighton, Peno Basin, Union Center, Hereford, White Owl, Plainview, Interior and Scenic areas as well as anything in between. All of our crews were dispatched to assist with restoration for the next several days.
Important message to all of our members: Please do not assume power is out when a line is down. The picture on the left shows a line that was down and energized for 2 1/2 days before we found it. Don’t assume that you can drive over the line just because it is down and you believe it is dead, please call us at 393-1500 or 2792135 and we will check it out.
An evaluation was done and it was apparent that we had quite a few poles on the ground as well as line breaks. With the road conditions and the snow that had blown in it was obvious that it was going to take some work to get power restored to some of our more rural members. We called in extra help. Kainz Construction graciously sent several crews to assist with pole replacement, and our neighbors to the south, Black Hills Electric sent two crews to help after their restoration process was complete.
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As you can see from the photos it was going to take more than our regular equipment to get around. We had members that so graciously moved snow to help us make a speedier recovery to those without power...to them we can’t thank you enough. We had a lineman who spent 2 days just moving snow to make access to the poles easier, and yes, our line crews did get stuck. But at the end of the day, they still had a smile and a lot of determination to get the last member restored. It was Saturday afternoon around 1:30 p.m. when power was restored to the last member. We appreciate the patience, kind words and acts of kindness as we worked through Storm Rudolph (named by one of our lineman).
We had approximately 500 miles of line impacted by Mother Nature, 180 poles were broken off, 40 cross arms needed to be replaced along with 50 line breaks requiring repair. Approximately 3000 members were touched by the storm. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate all of the words of encouragement. West River Electric has the best members. We want to thank Kainz Construction who set aside their scheduled work load for the week to assist in setting poles and Black Hills Electric who sent 2 line crews up to assist with restoration. Thank you to WREA employees and your families for your dedication.
cooperative connections • F eb rua r y 2017 11