Laclede County Record logo and header

Storm caused $803K of damage to Lebanon’s electrical system

Posted
The City of Lebanon Public Works Department had a busy week after storms caused an estimated $803,000 in damage to the city electrical system Monday of last week. Public Works Director Richard Shockley gave a report on the power outage and repair efforts at Monday’s City Council meeting. Shockley said the city will need to have a consultant look at the system. Shockley said the storm hit the city at 2:10 p.m. and took out 22 of the city’s 30 three-phase feeder lines, along with 5,600 meters, 15 of 22 signal lights, four of the seven water wells were out of power with one running on the generator. He said 24 of 47 lift stations were out of power. “Our immediate reaction was to clear streets to get the public safety folks in case anyone was hurt or a fire broke out,” Shockley said. He said they then began to focus on restoring electricity, get generations to lift stations and traffic lights, assess the infrastructure and call for mutual aid. The 69 city employees then began to work trying to restore power around the damaged system. On Tuesday, he said electric crews with 52 men and equipment from three cities and two contractors began to work. For more on this story see Wednesday's LCR.