Turning on the power

Below-freezing weather, wind gusts that reached 70 miles per hour, and icy roads didn’t keep Orcas Power and Light Cooperative linemen from braving the elements so those in San Juan County who lost power could have it restored in a timely manner.

Foreman Todd Shaner spent about 14 hours in the cold weather on Saturday, and another nine on Sunday, dealing with scattered outages that affected many portions of the island, among them the entire eastern side of Orcas, plus portions of the North Shore and the Cormorant Bay area of Deer Harbor. OPALCO crews had all the power back on Saturday night, but had to deal with still more outages the next day. The outage which affected the largest number of people was one that knocked out power for four hours from the Rosario area all the way to Sea Acres. It was caused by a branch falling on wires near the northwestern entrance to Moran State Park.

Countywide, there were 13 outages over the weekend, 10 on Orcas, two on San Juan and one on Lopez. All power was restored by late Sunday.

On Orcas, four linemen and five office personnel worked during the weekend. The numbers on San Juan were four linemen and one office person, while on Lopez, two linemen were out dealing with an outage, according to Operations Manager Pete Stoothoff.

The office workers included Ginny Reagles and Kathy Buscher, on Orcas, and Emily Orr, in Friday Harbor, all of whom took phone calls Saturday and Sunday and made recorded messages explaining the status of each outage, and when power was likely to be restored. OPALCO management helped out by doing much of the “gopher” work, namely, picking up food and drinks and taking them to the workers out in the field.

“It was cold,” said OPALCO General Manager Randy Cornelius, who spent part of the weekend with the line crews. “There were trees snapping all around you. It took a lot of energy walking the lines,” General Manager Randy Cornelius added, explaining that employees were “working on roads that were a sheet of ice. It took crews a long time to get from point A to point B.”

But Shaner, a 23-year OPALCO employee, recalled that compared to the years 1989-91, things went quite smoothly. During those years, there were times when crews worked virtually non-stop for two weeks in sub-zero temperatures and heavy winds. It was when virtually all the power lines were overhead, and much of the entire system was taken apart by the storms. Today, with many power lines underground, most outages can be taken care of far more quickly, Shaner said.

Most of those who called the office were courteous, Reagles said, and one person even offered to come in and cook for the crew. It was not accepted, however. Some OPALCO members helped speed up the process by going outside and, in some cases, finding the spot where a tree had come down on the line, causing the outage.

Unfortunately, not every caller got through by phone, and Cornelius advises OPALCO members reporting outages to call 376-3500, ext. 1, instead of the number in the phone book, 376-3599, because the former can accommodate more calls.

ROAD DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES WERE OUT SANDING ROADS

It was also a busy Saturday and Sunday for members of the San Juan County Public Works Department.

“The crews worked a good share of the weekend, starting about 4:30 a.m.,” Road Operations Manager Russ Harvey said, explaining that the department tries to get the main roads sanded by the time islanders set out to catch the red-eye ferry. Harvey also said that roads on Orcas and San Juan were the hardest hit, and that crew members saw several private vehicles that had to be abandoned after winding up in the ditches.

Orcas Towing responded to six cars that skidded off local roads. Owner Uzek Susol told The Sounder Monday that several more were still in the ditches, but they couldn’t yet be pulled out because it was still “too dangerous.”

The overtime hours put in by Public Works employees shouldn’t affect Public Works’ 2004 budget,” Director Jon Shannon said. Shannon noted that this year’s budget for dealing with storms is $100,000, up from $90,000 in 2003.

ROADS SLOWED DOWN EMS

“The roads slowed us down,” said Orcas Emergency Medical Services Coordinator Garth Eimers, while noting that the department was able to respond to all calls over the weekend.

The only issue was whether Airlift Northwest could get here when the wind gusts were strongest. “It was determined that they could get here, but would have to go to Seattle, not Bellingham,” Eimers said.

As things turned out, there was only one case in which someone left the island to obtain medical care. The person “set off on the ferry,” Eimers said, after it was determined that this was not a life-or-death situation.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.