20
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
November/December 2017
MY DAVEY
HANDLING THE UNEXPECTED
Tornadoes hit San Antonio, impacting dozens of Davey
customers and thousands of other property owners.
Tim Jackson, district manager, Davey's West San Antonio
Residential/Commercial office, said two tornado paths came
through heavily populated areas of the city in February.
"The path was 100 yards wide for two-and-a-half miles from
beginning to end," Jackson said. "Trees fell over, power lines
went down, roofs were ripped off. It was bad."
Jackson said the East San Antonio and South Austin R/C
offices, along with the Davey Surgery Company utility
services in San Antonio, helped with the cleanup efforts.
Chuck Shouse, district manager, East San Antonio office,
was welcomed to the city by the tornadoes. He transferred
from the Milwaukee area and the twisters hit on his first
night in San Antonio.
"When my wife and I arrived, they hit," Shouse said.
"Being from Kansas originally, tornado sirens were a
familiar noise to me."
Mark Mann, district manager, South Austin R/C office,
said with this storm Davey crews needed to do their
Left: Tornadoes hit San Antonio in late February, and the damage from
this storm can still be seen throughout the city today.
Below: Trees fell over, powerlines came down and roofs were ripped
off by several tornadoes.
work first before anything else could happen.
"We had to remove the obstacles, the hazards and take
care of the trees before people could safely come in and
start the reconstruction process," Mann said.
David Jacobo, general foreman, Davey Surgery, said he was
working with CPS Energy, which had 213,000 customers
lose power because of the tornadoes.
"The goal was to make sure everyone who was restoring
electricity or clearing paths for the CPS night crews was
safe," Jacobo said. "All of the customers were happy to
see us out there helping to restore their electricity as
soon as possible."
Jackson said he was impressed with the work ethic of the
crews throughout the recovery effort.
"What was memorable to me was the gratitude we got
from our clients for showing up," Jackson said. "Often we
were removing damaged trees to help get them out of their
houses or get their cars out of their driveways, so they could
go to work or take their children to school."
