On the frigid morning of Tuesday, January 16 at 9 a.m. while the temperature was in the single digits and the windchill was subzero, a local purveyor truck downed my Mom’s power line pulling it from her house structure. No one else was impacted, but it took out my Mom’s power completely.
My Mom is 83 years old, lives alone and relies solely on electric heat. The ESFD/PD and SWEPCO responded immediately as there was a live wire in the snow laying across White Street. The immediate hazard was taken care of by moving the wire out of the street, but in the meantime my Mom had no power. Our neighbors from Harold’s Diner called me concerned about my Mom having no heat.
SWEPCO informed me that there was nothing they could do until I got a private electrician to take care of the service side. I called Tim Brown (Down Ohm Electric) and he called Nate (Hayes Electric) to inform them of the situation.
SWEPCO, Down Ohm and Hayes responded within minutes and worked from 9:30 a.m. to sunset to get Mom’s power on! In the meantime, my friend Donna Kesner helped me to get my Mom to a warm safe place.
The contractors were so kind as to let my Mom’s cat (Spooky) in and out throughout the day. The temps were so harsh that the contractor’s fingers were freezing, and their tools quit functioning, but they kept plugging away until Mom’s power was restored.
I don’t have the words to express my gratitude to these compassionate, caring individuals who on one hellish day turned Mom’s lights on and gave her warmth to share with her cat. What a beautiful village we share here in Eureka!
Kudos to Tim, Nate, Billy, Tag, Josh, Jerry, Coty, Josh and Donna.
Carolyn Loper