After a winter storm dumped several inches of ice on the Missouri Bootheel and Western Kentucky the week of Jan. 26, power and phone outages spread quickly as ice accumulated on branches and utility lines.
Fidelity Communications in Sullivan and many other utility companies were called in to help repair and replace fallen lines and poles. There were reports of poles snapped off by the weight of the ice.
Three Fidelity installation and repair technicians headed for the Bootheel on Fri., Jan. 30 and two Fidelity construction crew members drove to Mayfield, KY the following Monday to help restore phone service in those areas.
“Marcus Johnston and Rick Lahmann volunteered and took a bucket truck and 10,000 feet of drop wire to Kentucky Monday morning,” said Director of Engineering Dan Smith. “They took everything they’ll need to build cable back.”
Johnston and Lahmann were due to return to Sullivan on Fri., Feb. 6.
“Then we’ll figure out if we need to send another bunch down there,” Smith said.
Western Kentucky is seeking a federal disaster declaration.
“The Ameren guys said it’s the worst they’ve ever seen,” Smith said.
Fidelity installation and repair supervisor, Mark Diehl, and technicians, Rick Lisenbe and Ricky Cotner, left on Jan. 30 to help restore phone service to BPS Telephone customers in the Missouri Bootheel. BPS serves customers in the communities of Bernie, Parma, Steele, Cooter and Holland.
The crew took a bucket truck and a trailer hauling a 25 KW generator needed to help restore power to the BPS business office in Bernie.
“They got the generator hauled to the business office and have been hanging aerial drop (service lines) ever since,” said Director of Operations Mark Head. “They worked from dawn to dusk Saturday and Sunday hanging drop and clearing brush with a chainsaw.”
The work involved restoring service to homes where ice and falling limbs had knocked down lines.
“They started clearing limbs off cable and rehanging drops and, as of yesterday, they already had 7,500 to 8,000 feet of cable hung,” Head noted.
The Missouri Telecommunications Industry Association sent out a request for help to its members on Fri., Jan. 30. Word came from Western Kentucky, which borders the Bootheel, the next day “and we started getting ready to send someone down there,” he said. “We’re just doing our part, trying to help.”