System damage from the second ice storm to hit Duck River Electric Membership Corp. within a week was more widespread across the service territory. Line crews worked through the weekend to restore power.
This time, wind gusts in the early morning hours brought down trees, branches and limbs already weakened by the weight of un-melted ice from the earlier winter storm. Daylight revealed significant damage in Maury, Marshall, Bedford and Coffee counties.
All DREMC line crews were deployed. Contract crews also have been called in to assist.
The breakdown of members that were out in the district at its peak: Manchester, 1,487; Shelbyville, 843; Columbia, 759; Lewisburg, 535; Decherd, 43; Chapel Hill, 7.
Crews have worked since before daylight to assess the damage and initiate repairs. The outage total began to climb around 3 a.m. when winds picked up.
“This is part of the double-whammy of an ice storm. What our linemen have already repaired might come down again with the thaw,” said Steve Oden, DREMC’s director of member services.
Most of the problems have been caused by large trees growing off the cleared rights-of-way (ROW) on private property. DREMC operates an aggressive vegetation management program aimed at clearing and trimming ROW on regular cycles. However, “danger trees” beyond the clearance zones can reach lines when they fall in high winds or because of ice buildup.
