He said that they have weekly meetings to discuss weather forecasts and ensure there will be enough crews on hand to respond to weather events.
In the Dayton metro area, he said there are 47 union linemen, and if they are all deployed there are further contractors that can be called in to help.
In terms of environmental effects of summer storms, Jacobs said that with leaves on the trees, winds could more easily push branches onto power lines.
Summer rains could also cause more people to hydroplane while driving and crash into power poles.
Once power is out, Jacobs said that crews follow a certain order to restore power, starting with fixing main lines, followed by branch lines that go out from the main ones to specific neighborhoods, and finally dealing with individual outages.
For customers, Jacobs said patience is important, saying that depending on its location, replacing a broken power pole and can take between two and eight hours.
He also asked area residents to give electricity workers plenty of space, and especially to stay far back from downed power lines – at least 20 feet, he said. Jacobs said that electricity from the 1,700-volt power lines spreads out along the ground, and depending on conditions could spread further.
If you are in a vehicle that ends up with power lines on top of it, though, he urged residents to stay in the car if at all possible and call for help.
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