Storms brought the region some much needed rainfall but Muleshoe got more than they bargained for.
Irene Anguiano, billing clerk for Bailey County Electric, told us, “There was a lot of rain that came through, a big lightening storm. The wind actually was very strong. It actually caused some of the rain to come under my front door. I did have some water get into my house last night. As soon as the storm hit at about 11PM, I was out of power until about 2AM.”
Wind gusts were reported as high as 82 miles per hour and were responsible for knocking out thousands of people’s power.
David Marricle, CEO of Bailey County Electric, said,
“We probably lost about 4 to 5 thousand customers at one time. We only lost 10 poles and 10 cross arms but the wires being all tangled up and broke, that kind of hurt us getting things back on. “
Not only were the high winds against them but the torrential rain too.
Donny Richardson, Line Superintendent, explained,
“We’ve been needing rain really bad but when it decided to come, it all came at once. We had several vehicles get stuck and we had people trying to pull us out and that was the hardest part of our job. It was trying to get around. Even tractors were getting stuck and it really slows us down, getting where we need to be but overall we were able to get most of our houses back on before day light. “
This took the entire teams effort at Bailey County Electric, ranging from the linemen to employees in the command center.
Marricle, expressed,
“Our guys get out in all kinds of weather and they do a great job, wouldn’t trade them for anybody.”
