HURRICANE RITA

Sam Houston Electric Cooperative completed the monumental task of system inspection and removal of damaged powerline equipment from Hurricane Rita the Spring of 2006. More than 3,400 miles of distribution line were damaged by the storm, as well as 2,300 poles.

More than 500 transformerswere picked up halfway through the process, and contractor crews removed approximately 200-300 more as they made their way through the service territory. Crews continued to clean up broken poles, scrap wire and insulators around the Cooperative’s 4,000 square mile territory.

The cleanup effort has picked up quite a bit in the last couple of weeks since we have more people in the field," Townley said in Spring 2006. "Right now, we have removed more than 90 percent of danger trees that were affecting our primary distribution lines. Any trees that were leaning or had hanging limbs over our distribution lines have been removed. We should complete this task within a week."

Townley emphasized the Cooperative does not remove trees that are near homes or service drops unless they threaten the primary distribution system. Members are responsible for removing trees on their property.

Click here to see steps to restoring power.
Click here to view our photo gallery.
Click here to view Hurricane Rita Press Releases.

Oct. 14 - Noon - Flag raising marks end of restoration process