Page 8 - West Virgina 811 Magazine 2022 Issue 2

Hydro-X at Work During Storm Recovery
In late August of 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall as the second most damaging hurricane on record to impact the state of Louisiana, following only Hurricane Katrina. For days prior, the team at Hydro-X was watching the storm’s progression closely and in close communication with our customer, ready to deploy if needed.
The storm created severe damage
along the coastline and farther inland. With close to 1.2 million residents without power, some power outages were expected to last up to a month. The category 4 storm brought 150 mph winds to the coast of Louisiana, leaving communities without essential utilities for what would be months and some areas rendered uninhabitable. There were an estimated $18 billion in insured damages in Louisiana alone.
With utility infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged, Hydro-X mobilized quickly alongside utility workers and contractors to begin the restoration process. The company, based in Conyers, Georgia with locations across the Southeast, sent hydrovac trucks from Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and North Carolina to help with storm recovery.
With a temporary mobile command unit established, they quickly began coordinating with their customer to accompany each utility repair crew with a hydro vac truck.
The historic storm had wreaked havoc on the power infrastructure of local communities. More than 30,500 distribution poles and 6,000 transformers were damaged. Hydro excavation, which moves dirt or
soil with pressurized water and
then removes it with a vacuum to a debris tank, was a critical part of the restoration process.
Each power pole that was damaged or knocked down had to be reinstalled. With powerlines down and destruction covering the ground, each hole had to be carefully and precisely dug using hydro excavation in order to get the pole back in the ground.
The 811 Emergency Response System in Louisiana was at full capacity during
6 • West Virginia 811
2022, Issue 2