By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Bowling Green electric linemen who headed south last week to patch up electric systems uprooted by Hurricane Helene had all responded to hurricane storm damage before.
But it’s never been like this.
As the three drove from Tallahassee, which was relatively unscathed, to Laurens, South Carolina, they got a view of what awaited them in the small town.
“It looked like a tornado went through,” said Tim Brubaker, who volunteered to go south along with Zach Stewart and Trevor Tyson, fellow journeymen linemen for the city. “It looked almost like a war zone.”
Back here in Bowling Green, the city electric division director John Stewart eagerly waits for updates from the crew, with his son Zach being one of the responders.
“We are in a very bad area,” Zach told his dad over the weekend. “Never have I seen so much destruction before.”
Laurens is a town similar in size to Pemberville, John Stewart said. The county coroner’s office in that area has attributed three deaths to the storm so far.
“There are downed trees and wires everywhere. I’ve never seen so many trees down,” Brubaker said Monday as he took a short break between assignments. After days on the job, electric crews from Laurens, assisted by those from Ohio, Missouri and Alabama, have restored power to at least half of the town, Brubaker said.
The crews work 16-hour shifts, he said, pointing out that as the days go on, the humidity kicks up.
“It’s a long day,” Brubaker said.
But the discomfort is secondary to the danger – with linemen donning long thick rubber gloves to splice together wires under collapsed trees. There is always the potential of backfeed from generators since most homes don’t have the equipment needed to prevent electricity from backfeeding.
“These are definitely dangerous conditions,” he said.
The townspeople have shown their appreciation with grilled burgers, southern fried chicken, and eggs and grits for breakfast.
“They’re treating them real good,” according to reports John Stewart has received.
“Everybody’s grateful whenever the lights come back on,” Brubaker said. “We are getting wonderful southern hospitality. They are feeding us so well – probably too well.”
So far, the Bowling Green linesmen have avoided one of the downsides of previous hurricane responses.
“Fortunately, we haven’t seen any snakes,” Brubaker said. But they can’t say the same about banana spiders – which was high on their lists of dreaded creatures.
John Stewart predicted the Bowling Green linemen would be needed down in South Carolina for another couple weeks. But Brubaker is keeping his eye on the calendar. When the crew left last Tuesday for Florida, he had been given strict instructions to be home in time for his daughter’s wedding in October.
“I have to make it back,” he said, even if that means meeting another Bowling Green lineman halfway and swapping out their vehicles. “I will make it home. I guarantee it.”
