A devastating storm hit the Big Country late at night June 21 and early June 22. The supercell rose to peak strength in Matador, taking three lives and ravaging the small community before moving south. Although to our knowledge no officially confirmed tornadoes touched down in Fisher, Jones or Nolan counties, the damage incurred indicates that it was much more than a run-of-the-mill summer storm. Rotan endured most of the impact—multiple historic buildings, businesses and homes were destroyed or heavily damaged. As the storm moved through Royston, Roby, Sylvester, McCaulley, west of Anson and toward Hawley, it left a trail of severe damage in its wake.
As of late June, Big Country Electric Cooperative had lost close to 350 poles, the vast majority in Fisher County. Our crews have worked from sunup until dark each day to make repairs in temperatures exceeding 110 degrees. Many homes have been without power for four to five days—incredible rainfall that accompanied the storm made areas north, south and east of Rotan, Royston, Hobbs and Crossroads inaccessible for days. Big Country EC enlisted help from our contractor, Primary Utility Services, and from three neighboring co-ops: Taylor Electric Cooperative in Merkel, Concho Valley Electric Cooperative in San Angelo and Lyntegar Electric Cooperative in Tahoka. The arrival of their lineworkers and equipment helped accelerate progress, and for that we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.
Photos show some of the storm’s damage along with repairs that were made, but more importantly, they illustrate the sixth and seventh cooperative principles in action—Cooperation Among Cooperatives and Concern for Community.
Thank you to our members for being encouraging, patient, supportive and understanding of our work during the hot days that tried us all.
Concho Valley EC lineworkers and equipment.
From left, BCEC lineworkers Cedar McIlwain, Cesar Torres and Allegra Escobedo stand ready to help as foreman Gabriel Vasquez sags line on FM 419 southwest of Roby.
Van Mater, left, and McArthur discuss outages and restoration.
CVEC lineworkers pray for each other, BCEC members and storm restoration before they depart San Angelo to assist us.
Van Mater uses the co-op’s system map to lead an end-of-day conversation with employees assisting in outage response.
Mutual aid crews from Lyntegar EC brought a skid steer equipped with a pole-setting attachment, which sped up restoration east of Rotan and around Royston.
Andrew Porter, staking technician, left, and John Van Mater, vice president of engineering, discuss outages and restoration.
Arron Duniven, field engineering supervisor, views co-op maps to gauge restoration progress.
Shane Wiseman, summer helper, and Tyler Martin, BCEC lineworker, were caked in red dirt at the end of the workday.
The office of District Operations Supervisor Jeremy McArthur, right, became the “war room,” where he; Vice President of Operations Will Duniven, center; and Van Mater worked behind the scenes to track information relayed from crews in the field and develop plans to attack outage restoration.
Storm damage.
Materials were delivered day after day, around the clock, with equipment offered by neighboring co-ops proving crucial to reestablishing electric service for affected BCEC meters.
From left, BCEC lineworkers Cedar McIlwain, Cesar Torres and Allegra Escobedo stand ready to help as foreman Gabriel Vasquez sags line on FM 419 southwest of Roby.
