Thunderstorms and strong winds passed through Cullman Electric Cooperative's service territory late Sunday night and early Monday morning, causing power outages throughout Cullman EC's service territory.
Approximately 17,000 members were without power after the storms passed. Power has been restored to more than 12,000 members as of 7 p.m. Monday. All of Cullman EC's crews along with several contract crews and tree trimming crews have been working non-stop since around midnight Sunday night. Several linemen crews from other co-ops in Alabama were scheduled to arrive Tuesday morning to assist with the repair work.
The outages are scattered throughout Cullman EC's service territory. Kyle Baggett, Cullman EC's vice president of engineering and operations, said due to the high number and scattered location of the outages, it could be several days before power is restored to all co-op members.
"We are dealing with a lot of downed trees and broken limbs on power lines, as well as broken utility poles," Baggett said. "Our crews have to clear a lot of fallen trees and remove debris before they can even start repairing the poles and lines. We have hundreds of individual outages, and making all of those repairs is a dangerous, demanding and time-consuming effort.
"We had guys working soon after the weather cleared during the overnight hours and throughout the day Monday to restore power to as many people as possible. We can't say 'thank you' enough to everyone for their patience while we repair the damage."
Cullman Electric Cooperative is a member-owned cooperative serving 42,000 member accounts in Cullman, Morgan, Lawrence and Winston counties.
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