Alabama Power crews continue restoration in Nate's wake

Published On: 10.08.17 |

By: Alabama News Center Staff

Alabama Power crews continue restoration in Nate’s wake

An Alabama Power crew works to restore power in Mobile after Hurricane Nate in October 2017. (Mike Kittrell / Alabama NewsCenter)

Crews from Alabama Power and other utilities continue to restore power in Nate’s wake as the storm speeds across Alabama this afternoon.

Nate made landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi shortly after midnight as a Category 1 hurricane, bringing storm surge, high winds and torrential rain. The storm, now a tropical depression, has caused widespread outages, with 51,800 customers statewide without power at 4 p.m., including 19,600 in the Mobile Division. Birmingham Division has 15,600 outages, Eastern 10,600, Southern 4,600, Western 600 and Southeast 700.

Alabama Power crews work to restore power after Hurricane Nate on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, in Mobile. (Mike Kittrell / Alabama NewsCenter)

Alabama Power crews work to restore power in the Meadowbrook area of Mobile. (Denise Curtis)

“Our associates along with Birmingham and Southern Division volunteers have ‘answered the call,’ literally, to serve our customers in the aftermath of Nate,” said South Customer Service Center Manager Tim Bowen. “All have made personal sacrifices to be here for our customers – we really appreciate their commitment to be available for our customers.”

Alabama Power crews were positioned throughout the service territory ahead of the storm, and began responding as soon as it was safe to do so. About 1,000 additional linemen, evaluators and support personnel crews from other utilities are helping with restoration work.

Safety is the top priority. High winds, isolated flooding and downed trees make some repairs challenging and slow the restoration process.

Alabama Power evaluator Sherri Morgan inspects infrastructure after Hurricane Nate. (Tammie Griffin)

Hurricanes can cause damage far inland. Hurricane Nate in 2017 felled trees in the Birmingham area, causing outages. (Donna Cope / Alabama NewsCenter)

Fallen trees like this one in the Birmingham area caused outages throughout Alabama as Hurricane Nate passed through. (Donna Cope / Alabama NewsCenter)

Flooding can make accessing areas difficult when restoring power. (Donna Cope / Alabama NewsCenter)

Fallen trees like this one in the Birmingham area caused outages throughout Alabama as Hurricane Nate passed through. (Donna Cope / Alabama NewsCenter)