Electric cooperatives swung quickly into winter restoration mode to combat the effects of a disastrous late October storm that knocked out power to 3 million people along the East Coast and claimed 13 lives.
Co-ops from Appalachia to Maine responded to outages caused by heavy, wet snow that accumulated on trees still laden with leaves.
“The snow weighted down a significant number of trees and limbs, affecting our power lines,” said Darrell Potter, a district director of operations and construction with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative.
Crews from the Fredericksburg, Va.-based co-op, and mutual aid crews dispatched from other parts of Virginia, restored service to more than 6,000 members in four Virginia counties by midday, Oct. 30.
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