Restoration focus moves upriver

"We are restoring as fast as humanly possible. The story is restoring upriver right now."

EWEB crews continue to make progress in the Deerhorn and Cedar Flat areas of the lower McKenzie Valley today. The damage is so extensive there that EWEB had to wait for other agencies to provide access. Some of these areas have seen extensive stretches of poles broken due to ice and trees, but we are prepared with the equipment and resources to make these repairs. Customers in these areas can expect at least a few more days before we can provide an estimated time of restoration.

Yesterday, EWEB's electric operations manager Tyler Nice checked in with crews who were repairing EWEB equipment in the McKenzie River Valley. The amount of destruction crews are witnessing is unprecedented.
"This has been as bad as I've seen it," said EWEB Line Crew Foreman Gary Lay, who has been with EWEB for 24 years. "I've seen different types of storms that are as devastating, but in smaller areas. This is a pretty large area."

EWEB's six crews have been working everyday since Saturday, Jan. 13. They've been joined by 11 contract crews, bringing the total to more than 50 people in the field. All told, more than 250 EWEB staff are working full-time on the restoration effort, including logistics, planning, operations and customer service staff.

"They're dedicated to this. They're dedicated to their job," Lay said. "Everyone of them are. And they want to be here because they know that's their job."

EWEB is ensuring that crews have the resources, equipment and materials to get the job done. But it's the community's appreciation that keeps them going.

"What the community is providing with the support is even more," Nice said. "It keeps them going through their 16-hour days and sometimes all through the night when the outages are still coming down."

"We'll be at this until it's done," Nice said.