A thankless job after the hurricanes

jsmatos

jsmatos

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Apr 6, 2002
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I was really surprised by this news story/letter. We don't actually live in Jacksonville so I haven't witnessed any of this behavior. There are people in my community that lost power, but I haven't seen any mean-spirited signs or poor behavior anywhere. While many members of BFC, thankfully, didn't have to experience these hurricanes, I still think this is an interesting read. We all could benefit by realizing that other people sacrifice a great deal to help us in our time of need. We shouldn't take them for granted. We should take time to acknowledge their hard work and protect them from the bullies. :mad:

http://www.jacksonville.com/community/cc/stormjournal/stories/091704/091604104257.shtml

Give the linemen a break!

Terry Hartung Curry is a FCC columnist.
A Concerned Lineman's Wife c/o Terri Curry

Giving all the talk about the power outages, I chose to let a friend of mine whose husband is a lineman for an electric company around this area and I asked her what it has really been like for him and his fellow co workers lately. I wanted to share her story, due to the fact that there are still so many under duress about being without power, which I understand.

Here is her story;

I am sorry if this offends anyone but I must speak out for all the linemen and their families. They work very hard in their communities and for some reason they have not been given the respect they deserve. Since hurricane Francis came ashore they have been working around the clock, putting in at least 82 hours each in the last five days, not to mention they will more than likely have to put in another four days of 18 hour shifts. So to put this in perspective on nine days they will have worked at least 154 hours, or what you and normally would work in 3 ½ weeks. And mind you these hours are going to be worked on a total of approximately 72 hours of sleep. Now take into effect that primary lines carry about 12,000 volts of electricity each and they are working these live wires daily. This is a very dangerous, stressful and physical job. Also, please note that some of the linemen just came back from working the same type of hours helping people down south with the recovery effort of Hurricane Charlie.

As the proud wife of a lineman I am ashamed of how our communities are treating the electrical workers. They have been called every name in the book and at times have even been yelled at by residents just for taking a break, but just remember the human body does need food in order to be productive so let them eat in peace. They have to drive around town seeing all the signs that have been posted and these actions lower their moral considerably. Is what you are loosing in your refrigerator worth the life of one of these linemen being killed because they were either rushing to get your power on or working too many continual hours to restore everyone’s power? By the way if most were better prepared you should have either bought a generator or rented one instead of complaining.

As far as how long it is going to take to restore all this outages, well they can’t give you an exact time. The other night my husband’s crew put one set of lines up three times. This was due to the fact that every time they got them up another tree would fall and take the line out again. As far as to why they can’t put on your power? The primary has to be up first and just putting on yours won’t work until the primary circuit is up and running. So you see it is not as simple as just throwing a switch.

These linemen take their lives in their hands everyday. Since my husband has been in this field he has seen several men seriously injured and some permanently disabled. All it takes is for their minds to wander for a minute or be too tired and they can kill themselves or someone they are working with. This is not a job that can be rushed.

All we as spouses ask is to be patient so that our loved ones can come home to us safely at the end of their working day. And please show a bit more respect to them as they are doing the best they can and as quickly as possible. No one likes to be treated the way they have recently been treated.

In closing, I think some of our community needs to go south and learn how to interact in a proper manor and with respect of our linemen’s duties. When these linemen showed up down south many of the people went out of their way to help in anyway possible. Up here many of you gripe or whine if you end up with a rut in your yard from the trucks.

Thank you for your time,

A Concerned Lineman’s Wife
 
That was a very well-written summary, and it leads me to think that the most vituperous complainers are the least knowledgeable and most helpless of people.
 
Well stated!
Thanks for posting this. It'd never occur to me that folk would bitch about linmen helpin out when and as they can.
Sheesh!

It's a shame that the relatively few bitchins is gettin all the air time while there's so much givin and sharin goin on.
I guess this is just normal. Folk want to hear what tittilates.

Tom
 
We've had linemen come in to my restraunt often.

Once some woman was bitching to these guys about taking the time off for dinner while SHE was without power. They never said a word to her but the owner went over and explained to her that if they could they could have the power up for the whole valley in about 2 hours but they are required to stop and eat for safety regulations. The linemen were angry that they had to take the break, they would rather have had the valley lit up.
The woman still sat there and glared. If she had said another word she would have been asked to leave.
When we get power co. people in the rule is "seat'em and feed'em"...anytime. If they call and let us know, we'll feed them after closing.
 
This attitude comes with many businesses. We used to have people complain that letter carriers should deliver their entire route before being allowed to take lunch. The national contract, enforced by the timeclocks themselves, insisted on a lunch break within six hours of start time.

We used to say that the doctor who wanted his lawyer to get up at two in the morning to bail him out didn't want to get up at two in the morning himself when his lawyer got sick.

And everyone laughs when cops take a break for donuts and coffee, as if they'd have time for a real sit-down meal.
 
shappa said:
We've had linemen come in to my restraunt often.

Once some woman was bitching to these guys about taking the time off for dinner while SHE was without power. They never said a word to her but the owner went over and explained to her that if they could they could have the power up for the whole valley in about 2 hours but they are required to stop and eat for safety regulations. The linemen were angry that they had to take the break, they would rather have had the valley lit up.
The woman still sat there and glared. If she had said another word she would have been asked to leave.
When we get power co. people in the rule is "seat'em and feed'em"...anytime. If they call and let us know, we'll feed them after closing.
Click to expand...

UNBELIEVABLE. :mad: I can't imagine someone bitching at these men when they're just trying to get a bite to eat. There are some really selfish people out there. I'm glad to hear that there are people standing up for them. Good job. :)
 
When I was a field operating engineer with Alabama Power Co., I took a group of line crews from the Selma/Montgomery/Auburn area to Atlanta after a large ice storm. We rolled into our assigned district in the early evening and my guys were asked if they could work that night. So we fell into an all-night and part of the day work rotation, sleeping a few hours in the middle of the day. Three days into this, I heard a woman caller to a radio station name our motel and say that crews from Alabama had been holed up there for three days and had not yet done a lick of work!

In all fairness, the customers who have approached us in a positive way, sometimes with with warm soup, coffee, etc. far outnumber the few nasty ones. Once in South Carolina, a community even gave a big outdoor fish fry for an APCo storm team.

Many times when a crew arrives at a storm work site, the first order of business is to open, lock out, and tag all breakers, switches, etc. which could serve as an electrical source onto the line, and to install safety ground conductors, following defined communications and tagging procedures. Until this "clearance" is completed, crews can do a certain amount of set-up to prepare for the work, but cannot approach the lines, set poles in them, etc.
until official clearance is obtained. I am certain that this process contributes greatly to the complaints heard about crews, "just standing around."
 
Other than having survived Frances, I was most glad when I saw the Hydro Quebec trucks pull into the neighborhood. I thanked every FPL and Canadian I talked to, and others took some of their limited stock of cold water out to them. I did have one neighbor who bitched to me that FPL (incorrect, as they were not from FPL but HQ) had 15 guys sitting on the truck while one or two worked. The real story is that there were four trucks with booms in the air replacing two poles and a transformer, plus all the primaries and other lines. Of the maybe eight guys there, four were up top while the others worked on the ground. Yes, they took breaks. It was 94 degrees and they wear Nomex suits while they work the lines for 14-16 hours a day. He's the kind of guy that learned nothing from this storm. I have other friends who have no house to go home to, or a house that will not be habitable this year, and yet he complains because the crews didn't restore power within 15 minutes of their arrival. Bottom line, he is a fool.

I think the large hand painted sign down Rte. 1 sums up the feelings of most of us here. It says, "You guys rock! Thanks to the Canadians for our power!"
 
You know, you can tell a lot about a person when you see how they treat "the help" ... or people they consider "the help." If someone is demeaning to their waitress, it says a lot to me. Expecting linemen and postal workers to work without breaks, that just shows how selfish and arrogant people have become.
 
Another classic example of people not wanting to take some responsibilty for their own homes and surrounding area. In the UK as soon as a 'workman' arrives he gets a 'Brew'* and possibly lunch if its that time of day. (I was offered lunch many times and breakfast too if we were there first thing in the morning) Why can't people spend a bit of the bitching time helping out? never ceases to amaze me.




* Tea, not what you were thinking :D
 
During Hurricane Irene,I lost power . After two days of this I decided to call my beloved FP&L.and was told my power was back on! Hell if it was ! It took two more days of cursing at dispachers to get my power restored. They fixed most people up and closed my case without ever bothering to see if they actually had finished the job. I was then Ass-End Charlie TWICE . You wonder why people complain bitterly ?

my 2c
Jorge
 
It sounds like they made a mistake during a very difficult time. The fact that you were hit by Charlie TWICE is not their fault. I'm sorry that you had such a rough time of it. I think it's obvious that mistakes will be made in massive power outages that are so prevalent following large hurricanes. So, it sounds like they made a mistake. Did cursing at them bring it to a faster conclusion? Did treating them like sh*t speed things up? You could have just as easily called and politely explained to them that they made a mistake. But no, you are justified because you were having a bad time of it. No reason to worry about their situation, you were uncomfortable. Where was your generator?

Again, I'm sorry that you lost your electricity. Thank goodness that you're still alive and have a house that is still servicable.
 
This was a few years back during Irene , If they hadn't debated the fact that I was out of power , I wouldn't have gotten angry. This time around, I didn't lose power . As far as the linemen, kudos to them all, FP&L management :grumpy:
 
My county and my neighborhood were hit hard by Isibel last year.Power companies from at least as far away as Texas sent crews to help us in our hour of need.Florida Power and Light,Fort Lauderdale,were the workers who got my power back on after 2 weeks and I am eternally grateful.
They also had the coolest paint jobs on their trucks out of all the power companies I saw.
I and everybody I know honked,waved and cheered whenever we drove past them.

It pleases me to know that Dominion Virginia Power has sent crews to Florida to help you all get your power restored.I am sure you will show your appreciation,even though their trucks are butt ugly.
 
Dealing with the danger and working conditions that lineman face, it takes a dedication above and beyond what most people would or could give. They deserve the same respect as Police, Firemen and other emergency personnel. The schmoes that complain are the kind of people that couldn't pour piss out a boot, with instructions on the heel.
 
Some people would bi**h if you hung them with a golden rope! During Isabel the power crew from I don't know how many states were here helping out. It did take us 6 days to get power but I am glad it was ONLY 6 days, heck, we're STILL getting rid of downed trees!
I was even more impressed by one of the few gas stations here that had power..the only people they were pumping gas for were the power crews, police and other emergency services. Never seen 50 power trucks lined up at a gas pump before!
 
Today is the eighth day I've worked in the Emergency Operations Center at the state capitol. We have over 1,000 national guard troops (includes 122 from our good neighbor Kentucky) in the field cleaning up flood debris. We have to rent Bobcats and dump trucks because our engineer battalion left their equipment in Iraq. We've borrowed 25 5T dump trucks and 30 HMMWVs from Virginia. Kentucky brought their own engineer equipment. Our guys are working like dogs.

The overwhelming majority of people are appreciative, but you always have a few who will complain they don't get enough help, don't get it fast enough, don't get the same help the people in another county are getting. Some people just can't understand that you can't get hundreds of people called in to their armories, transported to the flood area, equipped and put to work in a matter of minutes. These are the same people who call and complain that, "...there are three families out this road and we don't have power." They don't care that there is a city of 25,000 without power and that the priority of effort goes to getting the most power restored to the most people the quickest.

As Jerry Clower used to say, "99 per cent of people are good, one per cent are sorry."
 
Sad note: An Alabama Power Company employee experienced a fatal accident last week during power restoration efforts after Hurricane Ivan.
 
After Isabel, the number of power trucks from other states was a pleasant surprise. I know that they were working hard to get us all back up & running- the ones I talked to were hot, tired & worn out. My company was able to feed a bunch of the crews as a "thank you" a few times & the guys seemed really surprised/grateful to receive the free food- they were in town to do a job. I don't know of any instances here in southeast VA where a power crewperson was treated badly by a local. Everywhere I went, the trucks were greeted w/ honks & waves & "thumbs up".
 
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