Ameren Illinois has sent crews of utility workers to help restore power to Puerto Rico – who is suffering from one of the longest blackouts in U.S. history after hurricanes rocked the island in September. When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September, thousands of homes were destroyed, and 64 individuals were killed. Three waves of Ameren crews are scheduled to help. Brian Dorn is an electric supervisor for Ameren, who is in the first wave of workers. Dorn says getting to Puerto Rico was a challenge. “Getting out vehicles over here to use- all the vehicles were down in the Maryville Operating Center and throughout the state,” Dorn said. “We had to take them to Norfolk, Virginia. There they were put on a barge and shipped. So a lot of workers are using vehicles that they’re not familiar with.” Even though the island is beautiful, other challenges take shape. “You may have a house on a hill that the wire goes down through the jungle that (supplies) their power,” Dorn said. “So you have to figure out – are we going to put it back the same way if we can get to it? Or is there a different route we can take? The terrain – it’s real narrow roads, real soft shoulders…. There’s areas around here where we’ll have to shut the road down (to work).” As far as progress, Dorn says most of the debris from last summer’s hurricane is cleaned up, but mountainous terrain, narrow roads, and vegetation makes some work difficult. According to reports, 400,000 customers are still without power. 99% of the island has running water, and as of Monday, 84% had power. His crew is working in the Rio Grande region of Puerto Rico. The reception the Ameren crews received, according to Dorn, has been extremely positive – with several churches offering lunch to the workers. “The language barrier is a really the only thing that makes it challenging,” Dorn added. “But people know why we’re there and they’re happy to see us. A gentleman from a church offered to bring us all lunch – I said, “Well, there’s going to be like, 60 of us…?” He said that’s just fine.” When Dorn’s crew leaves Monday, the next wave gets off the plane, and his crew will get on.
