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Worst ice storm since 2007

By Teresa Bigham/The Hesperian-Beacon—

Lighthouse Electric Cooperative reported extensive damage in all of its service areas because of the major ice storm including downed poles and electric lines on State Highway 207. Damage to Floyd County’s cotton crops still in the field has not been determined yet. (Photos courtesy of Dane Sanders)

FLOYDADA – The ice storm that swept through Floyd County on Monday night, Oct. 26 has been the most devastating storm that Lighthouse Electric Cooperative has had to deal with since the 2007 ice storm,” said Larry Ogden, Manager of Member Services/Safety Coordinator.

As of Friday, Lighthouse has reported to have more than 200 poles broken with multiple lines down.

“Tuesday and Wednesday were the worst part of the storm,” said Mike Green, Member Services Assistant. “We were overwhelmed with calls here at the Floydada office. Our office also was without power for two days, and our battery backups were depleted so our phones were out, and we could not receive calls.”

Lighthouse officials said they have 20 linemen working non-stop but with the damage so immense, it will take several days to restore everyone’s power.

“Our linemen work 16 hours before they are sent home to get rest.  We do this for safety reasons,” Green stated. “They are back the next morning to continue repairing the damage.

“We have system-wide damage from this ice storm. Lighthouse services 12 counties, which includes the area our Memphis office covers.  We provide service to about 2,200 people. There has been damage reported from all counties. It’s still early to put a dollar amount on the damage this storm left, but it is significant,” said Green.

“We have six Texas electric cooperatives and three contractors from New Mexico and Oklahoma sending multiple crews to assist with the restoration,” said Green. “With the help of these extra crews we hope to have all our customer’s outages restored within a week or less.”

When a storm knocks out power to homes, farms or businesses, residents may use a generator. If a generator is improperly installed it has the potential to be extremely dangerous to the Lighthouse linemen, first responders and family members, according to Lighthouse officials, who added the company is currently updating its mapping system and encourages customers to call the office with that information. The engineering department will inspect the installation of the generator to make sure it is safe.
For further info, please contact Lighthouse Electric Cooperative at 806-983-2814.