High Winds, Rain Hit Alaska Co-ops [1]

ECT.coop - Derrill Holly, 9/20/12

A series of early season windstorms slamming into south central Alaska from the Pacific Ocean have kept electric cooperative crews busy restoring power and clearing debris.

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Early storms dumped heavy rains on the Cordova, Alaska, area, causing major flooding. (Photo By: Clay Koplin/Cordova EC)

“Cottonwoods, 70 feet and taller, in full leaf, caught the wind and tipped over at the root base,” said Bradley Evans, general manager of Chugach Electric Association. [3] About 40 percent of the Anchorage-based co-op’s 80,000 meters were knocked out of service by a severe windstorm that swept through the area,
Sept. 4.

“Spruce, birch, aspen and ornamental species also fell and caused outages,” said Evans, adding that thousands of trees were down. “We knew restoration would take days for some [members].”

To read the rest of this story, visit ect.coop. [4]