VOLT LINK Crews Power Through Outages From Harvey

On August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas as a Category 4 hurricane.

Harvey was the first major hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. It was devastating. Winds as strong as 130 mph left extensive damage to power infrastructure in their wake along the Gulf Coast from Rockport to Southeast Texas and into Louisiana.

VOLT LINK Construction crews were prepared before the storm hit. As Harvey made landfall, caravans of bucket trucks drove toward Texas, so the power restoration process could begin as soon as rain and winds subsided.

“Emergency restoration is both the most grueling and the most gratifying work VOLT LINK linemen address,” said Chris Swindoll, Superintendent. “Restoring power is often restoring some sense of normalcy for communities hit by these storms. It’s a process we’re proud to be a part of.”

More than 300 VOLT LINK men performed work this hurricane season, many of which worked Hurricane and Hurricane Irma, a storm that followed just days later, back to back. In total, VOLT LINK teams logged 114,000 restoration man-hour this hurricane season. They worked alongside many Quanta sister companies.

Hurricane Harvey and Irma caused mass destruction to numerous regions in and surrounding the U.S. Together. According to estimates from Moody’s Analytic, damage and lost productivity has the potential to cost between $150 billion and $200 billion.