Pay it Forward, Co-op Style

After relying on several other co-ops to assist Eastern Illini during the December ice storm, several EIEC employees headed to Kentucky to help get their power restored.

(Paxton, 2/26/09) Shortly after experiencing our worst ice storm in almost 20 years, several linemen from Eastern Illini were given the opportunity to travel to Kentucky to assist in the restoration efforts of a devastating ice storm.  The efforts and dedication of the Eastern Illini crews were not lost on one Paducah, KY couple.  They wrote:

The ice storm of 2009 arrived in western Kentucky, on time and as forecast, the evening of Jan. 26. Daylight the next morning revealed the heavy ice which had taken our electric, cable, and most phone service.

One cell provider survived, which happened to be mine. I could call out of the area and was able to reach my sister in Park Forest, Illinois.

Little did we know that the worst was yet to come! During that night, round two of the storm began. By midnight, up to two inches of ice covered everything. The eerie sounds in the blackness of our woods kept us awake and reminded my husband of the battle fields in Vietnam. As each tree top snapped the sound was like artillery fire. Then came the explosive sound of the tree top and the branches below it crashing to the ground.

The next few days were dark, cold and quiet. A battery radio and a local station on generator provided the only exception.

The message was STAY IN.

"There is no power. No food, gas, or other supplies are available. Most roads are blocked by fallen trees and utility lines."

The first sign of movement we saw was a National Guard Humvee helping to clear the roads. Slowly during the next week, essential services began to get power restored, some stores and gas stations opened, and a path through our drive was cleared by neighbors.

The days and nights ran together until Feb. 12 when an Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative truck appeared!!

Our electric pole was only one of hundreds upon hundreds that had been destroyed. They wasted no time repairing the damage. That night, for the first time in seventeen days, we had light, heat and all those many things we take for granted at the flip of a switch.

Caravans of power trucks and tree trimmers came from far and near to assist in restoring power to over 700,000 Kentucky residents. They worked day and night in 16-hour shifts. A virtual mine field of hazards, single digit temperatures, up to 50-mph winds, pouring rains followed by ankle deep mud, did not slow then down.

The storm left no one untouched. It threatened lives and it took lives. Thirty-six Kentuckians lost their lives. Some from hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, and house fires.

My husband and I both grew up in the small Southern Illinois town of Norris City.

Also, we both attended the University off Illinois during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Being rescued by an " ILLINI " power crew held special meaning for us.

THANK YOU,

Charlie and Sue M.

Paducah, KY