Power crews at work during rain, sleet, dark of night

HUNTSVILLE — It’s a dark and stormy night. The lights flicker. The TV blinks.

Then, darkness.

That’s the time Huntsville Utilities crews are hitting the roads.

The wheels were put in motion (pun intended) hours earlier when severe weather – storms, tornadoes, ice, snow, etc. – is in the forecast.

“We monitor the weather closely and assess each situation based on the information provided by the local NWS office and the Madison County EMA,” said Joe Gehrdes, community relations director for Huntsville Utilities.

When the warnings and watches are issued by the National Weather Service’s Huntsville office, the crews are already in alert or stand-by mode.

“I think most utility people would say (including me) crews are always on stand-by, because anything can happen at any time,” Gehrdes said. “It isn’t always weather that calls them to respond.”

Gehrdes said the crews aren’t necessarily sitting by their phones (does anyone, anymore?) waiting for the call, but may be strategically stationed around the area.

“It depends on what we’re facing,” he said. “For example: a couple of years ago, there was ice in the forecast, particularly in higher elevations. In that case, we prepositioned crews and equipment on top of Monte Sano and Green Mountain.

“What a lot of customers don’t realize is; not only does winter weather wreak havoc, the hazardous driving conditions present additional challenges.”

The work itself is hazardous. A crew member was shocked last Friday working a line in Huntsville. He is in stable condition in UAB Hospital, Gehrdes said.

Meanwhile, the weather, in a different way, helps the crews with their training, he said.

“They have drills from time to time, but emergencies happen often enough that we learn and improve every time we go through an event like last Friday’s storms,” Gehrdes said. “Additionally, the operations crews are constantly training and sometimes competing to improve their skills.”

So when the power goes off, the Huntsville Utilities operations crews are on.