Storm lessons

A dustup over a power outage in Stoddard County provides an example for the necessity of prudence and common sense, even in the most trying situations.

It is hard to imagine being a power company faced with a widespread power outage like the one causes by ice storms last month. The logistical nightmare of such an event surely tests the ability of any organization to work efficiently and productively.

According to David Cooper, Stoddard County Ambulance District director, when the power went off he called SEMO Electric Cooperative to request that power be restored to a tower crucial to the emergency radio system for the entire county. A battery backup was expected to last only 24 hours.

Cooper says the reception he got from SEMO Electric was far less than he expected. The battery failed after 26 hours, and power still hadn't been restored.

But Reuben Jeane, general manager of SEMO Electric, said in a letter, "No one community or type of service is given priority over another." Still, SEMO Electric pulled two crews from restoring service to residences to work on the tower for two days.

The fallout from the ice storms taught many lessons in an area that hasn't experienced such storms for many years. Among other things, the storms highlighted the weaknesses of our preparation for such events.

It would seem that utility companies would, indeed, have a priority plan for restoring service, with hospitals, nursing homes and emergency responders at the top of the list. And the ambulance service learned that it should have its own backup plan if the county's key radio tower goes down again. It has made arrangements for a temporary tower.

Consider the lessons learned — and how much worse it could have been.