Mike Wittler provided the Zoom program last Wednesday on the storms that rolled through the Kerrville area in late May, causing power outages throughout the area.
The storms were the worst in at least thirty two years, and there were more outages in four days than in the last four years. It started with a storm on Sunday, May 24th about 8 p.m., with lightning and wind causing power outages for about 60 locations. Power was restored by about noon the next day.
On Monday the 25th, there was a power outage at the stadium substation, which caused a loss of power in downtown and to businesses on Sidney Baker, including traffic lights.
On Wednesday evening, a dump truck incident caused power to go out for 250 customers. Then, one hour later at about 8 p.m., the big storm with wind, rain and hail hit Kerrville. There were 5,482 customer without power, about 1/4 of KPUB's customers. Most of the damage was from tree limbs falling on lines, but overall there were also 30 broken poles. The crews worked all night, and additional outside contractors were brought in the next day. In addition, several outside municipalities sent crews to help.
Thursday night another storm hit, and 1,559 customers were still out of power. Friday, a previously damaged tree on Harper Rd. finally fell, knocking out service to 600 additional customers. And finally, on Friday night, a house fire on Alice St. caused loss of service to 20 homes. By mid afternoon Saturday, all power was restored, and crews continued to work through the weekend.
