Jackson crews prepare for winter weather

Gas up the chain saws. Gas up the trucks.

Those orders were issued by Don Schuette, director of electric utilities for the city of Jackson.

Schuette, who only Tuesday got his first full night of sleep in eight days, said he put the city's 20-man utility crew on standby Wednesday afternoon. But he's hoping the latest National Weather Service statement, which reduced the storm watch to an advisory, holds.

"We're at Mother Nature's mercy," he said.

Though his crews and contractors who arrived to help make repairs last week "did everything up to this point to alleviate further damage to the system, we've got a lot of trees weakened now. Soft ground and high winds can do a lot of damage."

He said the decision to call in extra help is "more of a gut feeling. You know about how much your crews can handle."

He said last week, the threshold for that call was about seven failed circuits. With 80 contractors helping the city's team of 20, it was "outstanding that no one got hurt. There was major switching around. No one got slightly injured," he said.

Schuette said he monitors the weather closely.

"I'm hoping it will just pass us by. But I'll know whenever it starts to hit. We'll start assessing damage as emergency calls roll in," he said.

The city has a bank of eight phones to answer those who dial 243-2300; during a normal day, power plant workers answer calls around the clock.

During emergency conditions, everyone from city office workers to the mayor and alderman will volunteer for phone duty.

"There's no reason to add more lines. Eight is sufficient," he said.

Though he knows who's lost power around town during emergencies, "we're happy to take calls. It helps direct us to where possible problems are."

The people who want customers' power restored the quickest, he said, are the utility workers.

"Trust me, there's no one who wants these people back in power more than we do," he said. "When (customers) are happy, our families get to see us."