Rural Missouri - March 2011 - (Page 4)

C O M M E N T S “Devoted to the rural way of life” March 2011 Volume 63 / Number 3 Jim McCarty, editor jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop Jason Jenkins, managing editor jjenkins@ruralmissouri.coop Heather Berry, associate editor hberry@ruralmissouri.coop Kyle Spradley, field editor kspradley@ruralmissouri.coop Megan Schibi, editorial assistant mschibi@ruralmissouri.coop Mary Davis, production manager mdavis@ruralmissouri.coop Angie Jones-Gerber Dusty Weter Co-op page designers Snowpocalypse More snow than ice keeps outages low for co-ops S nowpocalypse. Stormagedseveral thousand outages for electric don. The Mother of Them co-ops along the east end of Interstate All. These and other less 70. Both Callaway and Cuivre River polite names were all used to electric cooperatives saw power go out describe a monster storm that was briefly as lines began “galloping” in poised to wreak havoc on Missouri the high winds. and surrounding states Feb. 1. White River Valley Electric also Electric cooperatives statewide saw some outages, with one line servbraced for the big weather event in ing around 550 members near Ozark an all-hands-on-deck effort to pregoing out twice. pare for what might have been a Co-ops located in the prairie areas major outage situation. of Missouri saw heavy snow measurBut as the ice turned to snow ing as deep as 2 feet. While snow and the final flakes fell the next day, typically does not affect power lines, most of the state’s electric cooperait does lead to scattered outages from tives reported outages were few and vehicle accidents. And it makes it extremely difficult for repair trucks to quickly repaired. The exception was a line stretchget to the outage site. ing from Branson to just north of At Tri-County Electric in LanSt. Louis where ice as thick as 1/2 caster, Adair County road crews used to 3/4 of an inch fell. Following the a V-plow to lead the co-op’s trucks to ice, strong winds gusting to 40 mph the site of one outage. and bitter arctic cold caused scattered With the help of area farmers with outages and made it difficult for tractors who plowed the way, Co-Mo crews to work. Electric crews were able to stay on the photo courtesy of Black River Electric Cooperative Hardest hit was Black River Electric scenes of outages and get all but 13 Ice clings to this sculpture of a lineman Cooperative based in Fredericktown. accounts on before returning to the outside of Black River Electric Cooperative’s Manager Tom Steska said the storm office at 3:30 a.m. office during the Feb. 1 winter storm. clipped the northern part of the “Most of those outages wouldn’t cooperative’s service area, including have gotten back on Tuesday night Madison, Iron, Reynolds and part of Bollinger counties. without our members’ help,” said Chuck Tuttle, Co-Mo’s “You could probably lay a ruler on the map and everyoperations manager. “They used their tractors to break thing on the north part of our system had a half inch, through snow drifts. Once they did that, we could get our some probably three-quarters of an inch of ice,” says Steska. trucks through and to the outage site. If we slid off, they “The trees were overburdened with ice. Maybe it’s a 40-foot helped pull us out. They hauled our crews around down the tree that is 4 inches around that tips over into our lines. private right of way so our guys could find the problems.” Thanks to all who lent a hand and to those who expePretty soon we have outages.” One of the downed lines that fed the cooperative’s officrienced outages during the storm and showed remarkable es, forcing the employees to work with power provided by a patience throughout the ordeal. generator for several hours. “We got so many compliments,” Steska said. “People Steska said workers were hampered by ice that froze the were calling in thanking us for our labor. I think that is pretty neat. It really cheers you up.” clamps that hold individual home taps to the feeder lines. Normally crews disconnect the taps in order to get the entire line back on, then work one-onone to individual outages. This time they had to work backward, which took more time. Still, Black River had its 3,800 outages back on relatively quickly. “This was a 24-hour bug for us,” Steska said. Elsewhere, the strong winds that followed the storm caused Linemen from White River Valley Electric Cooperative work to repair one of the scattered outages that plagued the system in the wake of the winter storm. Ice, snow, strong winds and arctic temperatures made repairs difficult for the crews. USPS 473-000 ISSN 0164-8578 Copyright 2011, Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. Call for reprint rights. Rural Missouri is published monthly by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. Barry Hart, executive vice president. Individual subscription rate: $9 per year or $21 for three years, taxes and postage included. Group rate for members of participating RECs $3.99, taxes and postage included. Delivery as specified by subscriber. If not specified, delivery will be by periodical class mail at subscriber’s expense. Periodical Class postage paid at Jefferson City, MO, and additional mailing offices. www.ruralmissouri.coop Find us on www.facebook.com/ruralmissouri Postmasters: Send address changes to Rural Missouri, P.O. Box 1645, Jefferson City, MO 65102. Subscribers: Report change of address to your local cooperative. Do not send change of address to Rural Missouri. Advertising standards: Advertising published in Rural Missouri is accepted on the premise that the merchandise and services offered are accurately described and sold to customers at the advertised price. Rural Missouri and Missouri’s electric cooperatives do not endorse any products or services advertised herein. Advertising that does not conform to these standards or that is deceptive or misleading is never knowingly accepted by this publication. Advertising information: mdavis@ruralmissouri.coop 573-659-3400 National Advertising Representative: National Country Market; 611 S. Congress St., Suite 504; Austin, TX 78704 573-659-3400 Member, Missouri Association of Publications and Missouri Press Association P.O. Box 1645 Jefferson City, MO 65102 573-659-3423 info@ruralmissouri.coop Rural Missouri photo courtesy of White River Valley Electric Cooperative 4 WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP http://www.ruralmissouri.coop http://www.facebook.com/ruralmissouri http://www.facebook.com/ruralmissouri http://WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - March 2011

Rural Missouri - March 2011
Contents
Comments
Columns
Docent of the Walking Cane Dulcimer
Out of the Way Eats
Mail Bag
The No-Dig (And Less Sweat) Gardening Alternative
Grow a Delicious Landscape
A Recycled Craft
Hearth and Home
News Briefs
The Gainesville Gunner
Marketplace
Around Missouri
Top Apps for Rural Missourians
Neighbors
Just4Kids

Rural Missouri - March 2011