John Cervantes and his family had been planning to get away to Burlington, Vermont, for a few days around Christmas, but as they watched the weather forecast unfold last week it became apparent the trip wouldn’t be possible.
As a massive wind and rain storm got underway, Cervantes was called into work at Central Maine Power, where he works as a first-class lineworker. His family canceled their hotel room and Cervantes embarked on a series of 17-hour days, working from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. to restore power in York County.
“If it’s a state of emergency it’s all hands on deck,” said Cervantes, 38. “When that happens, vacation isn’t happening.”
The father of two was among thousands of workers who deployed over the holiday weekend to restore electricity after the powerful storm knocked out power to more than 300,000 homes across Maine.
By Tuesday – four days after the storm hit – CMP had restored electricity to all its customers. Versant Power, the state’s other major utility company, was still working to restore electricity to about 1,200 customers on Wednesday afternoon.
The restoration was a multi-day effort involving about 3,300 workers from both Maine and out-of-state companies that came to help. It took them away from their families during the Christmas holiday, although some say it’s just part of the job.
“I’m used to it,” said Sam Webber, who has worked as a lineworker for CMP for 21 years out of Augusta.
“The holidays are always the windy time,” Webber said. “In the summer it’s thunderstorms and microbursts around the 4th of July. It’s just a cycle of thunderstorms, wind, wet snow, repeat.”
The storm on Dec. 23 came on the heels of another the weekend before, and Webber said he and other workers didn’t really get a break.
“We worked on that snowstorm from Friday to Wednesday or Thursday and then the wind came on Friday, so we went from snow to wind,” said Webber, 51.
He missed celebrating the Christmas holiday with his family, but he said that after 21 years, they’re used to it and have always been understanding.
“They know when I get done, we’ll do something, although maybe it won’t be Christmas Day,” said Webber, who was still at work Wednesday, though he was back to a normal 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shift.
Central Maine Power, which serves 670,000 customers in central and southern Maine, called in lineworkers, arborists and tree crews, support staff and office workers to respond to the storm. More than six dozen contractors and out-of-state companies assisted.
Susan Clary, who coordinated logistics, including hotels and meals, for all those CMP workers as the company’s logistics section chief, said the storm was “certainly one of the bigger ones” the utility has responded to in recent years. “It really took all hands on deck and everyone stepped up in their roles,” Clary said.
Clary herself spent several days camped out in a hotel near her Augusta office, knowing the commute from her home in Livermore Falls would be too much during the storm. She said there’s a sacrifice that comes with working the holidays, but it can also be rewarding.
“There is that satisfaction of knowing we’re there when our customers need us and we’re doing everything we can to get power safely and efficiently on so customers (don’t) have to worry about frozen pipes or how to cook their meals or stay warm,” Clary said.
Versant, which serves 165,000 customers in northern and Down East Maine, had about 390 people working in the field on remaining restoration efforts Wednesday, according to communications specialist Tina Morrill.
She said that number is higher than during the peak of the storm since several contract crews were not available to help until their own restoration efforts were complete.
Versant Power President John Flynn said crews Wednesday were on their sixth straight 16-hour day because the storm was so abnormal, with dozens of snapped utility lines and miles of conductor on the ground.
“They have smiles on their faces and they’re ready to go, but there’s no question fatigue is setting in,” Flynn said, adding that managers have been checking on crews and are taking precautions to make sure they’re not too tired to work safely.
Holland Power Services, which is based in Canada but has a division in the United States, was among the dozens of outside contractors called in to help. The company deployed 35 line trucks and over 80 employees to work for CMP and about 35 people to work for Versant.
Jim Salmon, vice president of Holland Power Services, said crews were already in Maine, helping CMP clean up from the storm that hit on Dec. 16, when they were asked to stay.
“It’s been a very long haul,” Salmon said. “Especially with the holidays, with Christmas in there, they’ve been away from home for a long time, but this is what they do. This is what we do as a line restoration company. You expect to be working on Thanksgiving, on Christmas, on the holidays because you’re trying to restore power as quickly as possible.”
Salmon said crews get tired, but the fatigue usually hits hardest when workers finally get home. He said customers were supportive throughout the repairs and crews were also pleasantly surprised by a ham dinner CMP organized on Christmas Day at the hotel where they were staying in Portland.
“It was a real treat to arrange a ham dinner rather than having our guys have to eat pizza on the back of the truck or Chinese food,” Salmon said.
The community took care of crews throughout the state.
The small town of Anson, for example, offered to provide bagged lunches and a Christmas meal for workers at CMP’s Fairfield office. In Naples, the American Legion prepared a meal for workers in the Bridgton area.
“It’s very heartwarming when we have these organizations who reach out to us,” Clary said.
In York County, Cervantes said, a local restaurant provided a jerk chicken dinner for lineworkers on Christmas Day. Utility customers offered cookies and coffee as they saw crews out working. “Everybody was fantastic,” Cervantes said. “They knew we were sacrificing Christmas.”
On Wednesday, after 12 consecutive days working, Cervantes finally had a day off and was relaxing at home, playing board games and watching television with his family in Acton.
“We just celebrated today, actually,” he said. “We opened gifts and it was like a second Christmas.”
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