By: Jessica Savage |
(Corpus Christi Caller Times)
As Hurricane Sandy nears landfall, about 24 American Electric Power employees from Corpus Christi are stationed in West Virginia to help AEP Appalachian Power Company restore expected power losses once the storm clears.
This past weekend AEP Texas sent a total of 81 employees to assist, along with 38 contract crews, which includes 10 from Corpus Christi.
Hurricane Sandy is tracking toward New Jersey and is expected to affect New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and other major cities across the East Coast that comprise the most populated U.S. region. The hurricane is expected to combine with a wintry storm from the west and cold air rushing in from the Arctic to create a what weather officials have dubbed a “superstorm” or “Frankenstorm.”
Robert De Leon, AEP Texas manager of region support, said the power company crews might be reassigned, depending on the damage sustained in the area. Utility companies in the path of Hurricane Sandy have requested about 20,000 additional workers from other utility companies to help with restoration, according to a news release from AEP Texas.
AEP Texas Distribution Vice President Bruce Evans said that the company participates in a mutual assistance agreement with other utilities to send company personnel when a major storm strikes.
“The utilities we assist also send help our way when a storm strikes our service area,” Evans said in the news release. “I am very proud of our employees who will be facing adverse conditions to safely restore power to the area.”
