Published On: 06.23.17 | 

By: Ike Pigott

See the damage in Alabama from Tropical Storm Cindy tornadoes and storms

FEATURE

Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall hundreds of miles away, but the outer bands of the system spawned damaging winds and at least one twister. About 64,000 customers were affected by the severe weather throughout Thursday.

An EF2 tornado touched down Thursday afternoon in the western part of Birmingham, and overall the system broke 35 utility poles, downed more than 80 spans of wire and damaged 20 transformers. More than 13,000 customers around the Fairfield, Midfield and Pratt City communities had service interrupted by the damage from that storm cell.

Alabama Power shifted some crews from other parts of the state to aid in restoration efforts, and worked throughout the night to restore power. Efforts continue Friday morning, with crews now getting access to the hardest hit areas.

For this storm, restoration crews were able to get a valuable overhead view of the damage, using unmanned aerial systems (UAS, commonly called “drones.”)

“That tool gives us a number of benefits,” said Engineering Manager Bobby Hawthorne. “It speeds up our evaluations, and helps us determine the extent of the damage. Even more importantly, it allows us to perform that assessment more safely.”

The use of UAS is still tightly regulated, with restrictions on height and on line-of-sight to the operator.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (1) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (2) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (3) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (4) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (5) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (6) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (7) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (8) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (9) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (10) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Aerial look at storm damage from June 22, 2017 storms (11) from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.