Central Texas electric cooperatives were grieving the loss of friends and family and rushing to help neighbors in the aftermath of the deadly flash floods that killed more than 120 people along the Guadalupe River in Texas Hill Country on July Fourth.
Co-ops experienced flash flooding and hundreds of power outages from the torrential rainstorms, but they were spared the worst of the devastation in their service territories, co-op leaders said.
Rapidly rising floodwaters that reached the height of a two-story building overwhelmed neighboring communities, washing away homes and obliterating a girls’ summer camp.
“For us, this has been more of an emotional community impact rather than an impact to electric or building assets,” said Bandera Electric Cooperative CEO Bill Hetherington.
“Many of our employees had friends and family that were directly impacted. Very tragic. Our employees are volunteering to assist in the recovery process.”
Bandera Electric, which serves about 29,000 consumer-members in 2,140 square miles of the Texas Hill Country, dispatched crews to work non-stop throughout the weekend to restore power after flash floods hit their service area. They had turned the lights back on by Sunday for nearly all of their 800 members who lost power on the Fourth of July.
“We are incredibly grateful to our dedicated crews who have been working around the clock to restore power and address storm-related damage,” the co-op said on its Facebook page.
Bandera Electric members responded with gratitude. “Thank you for bringing back power as quickly and safely as possible,” wrote one woman. “God Bless you all and take care!” wrote another.
The areas affected by the rapidly rising Guadalupe River were primarily served by the Kerrville municipality and not co-ops, Martin Bevins, vice president of communications and member services at Texas Electric Cooperatives, said Monday.
“We are not currently seeing significant damage in co-op service territory,” he said.
Mike Williams, CEO of the statewide association, said, “Despite the horrific weather event, electric utility infrastructure is in relatively good shape.”
“Our prayers are with the families and friends of the loved ones lost or missing,” Williams said.
Crews from Central Texas Electric Cooperative in Llano, Texas, encountered several areas where high floodwaters and washed-out roads prevented them from assessing the outages immediately after the storm, said CEO Atanacio “Tachi” Hinojosa.
“In some cases, we had to wait until the next day or two to go back to access the area to restore power,” he said. “At times, as many as 700 meters were out at once, and the continued outages went on for more than 36 hours. We had anything from simple single outages to poles and lines down in the high-flooded areas.”
While the co-op was dealing with its own challenges, it also sent lineworkers to help a neighboring public utility that was hit hard by the flash floods.
“Your crew in blue is proud to be lending a hand to Kerrville Public Utility Board as they work to restore power in West Kerry County,” CTEC said on its Facebook page. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to serve and support our neighbors when they need it most.”
As Bandera Electric wrote on its Facebook page, “In times like these, we are reminded of the strength and resilience that comes from standing together.”
Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.