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Newsroom Chapter Blog
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Feb
3
2/3/2009 6:40 PM
 I planned to snag a few hours of sleep from about 4:30 a.m. - 7 a.m., but the sewer backed up. So around 5 a.m. I had to get up to get some portable spot lights for the port-a-potties that were out back before everyone woke up at 6 a.m. After settling down the clients and getting them used to going out in the cold to use the bathroom, I headed to the Emergency Operations Center for the morning briefing. We learned that power was restored to about 10% of the city and the power company is working to get the main transmission lines back up.
In a town that is only 6 square miles there were over 400 poles were destroyed. One of the problems they are running into is as they replace the poles and the power lines, they are finding a lot of the transformers are going to need to be replaced. Additionally, many of the houses had their service drops damaged, so even though the lines have power some of the houses are still dark.
After the meeting I headed back to the shelter and helped get things set up for a more effective operation. They brought in more crews so we are going to start working "normal" schedules. We got tasks assigned and we are getting a lot of the behind the scenes things worked out. When I was trying to make the sleeping arraignments for the new staff coming in, I found out that some more line crews were coming and we were reaching maximum capacity. So I managed to secure the building right next to ours and get it set up with a generator so that the staff members can stay there. Once we got all that hooked up, I started moving in some cots and then it was time for a break! The day ended when I got my stuff out of the jail house we were staying in and moved to the new place got in bed about 9:30 p.m.
Until tomorrow!
Mark McWilliams
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