SWEPCO's Michael Corbin talks about the company's emergency plans for restoration and repair as Hurricane Laura rapidly approaches.

"This is a big one," Corbin begins, talking about the potential for massive outages caused by high winds. "And if you look at the SWEPCO service area, where we go in western Louisiana, from DeRidder and Leesville, all the way up to the Arkansas border and east Texas, into Longview, Henderson, Kilgore and those areas...the storm is coming for us, but we're ready."

"What happens here in the next couple of days depends on what happens south of I-10 and how hard it hits the coast and how quickly it loses energy, he continues. "When it makes land and quickly drops down top a Category 2 or 1, that certainly helps us because that gets the wind speeds down."

"Right now, we're preparing for it to still be a Category 2 around the Toledo Bend area and still be a Category 11 as it passes over Shreveport and Bossier"

Corbin then explains how most damage to lines will occur. "We've had a dry summer...and the trees are brittle. We're very concerned about trees and tree limbs. We have about a thousand people coming in from other utilities and other areas that we serve for our service area, plus we have others on standby if we need them."

"Safety is our number one concern. If a line is down in your yard or in the street, don't touch that line. Assume that line is energized and assume that line is dangerous. Call 9-1-1, call SWEPCO and let us know where that line .is."

 

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