Brewton Alabama Power linemen help restore power despite damage to their own homes

Kaleb Fain began Friday night, Oct. 9, watching the outer bands of Hurricane Isaias start to reach his home near Brewton. He and his daughter and son were actually enjoying the breeze, cooling off the heat that had continued into October.

Fain was relieved to know the expected landfall had moved east and was taking some solace in the fact that Brewton would now be on the west side of the eye of the storm.

Famed Alabama meteorologist James Spann with the Alabama Weather Network likes to say “west is best, east is the beast” when it comes to hurricanes. But he also adds the caveat that there really is no “safe” side of a hurricane.

That became apparent to Fain as he watched the top of a tree break off and dance in the wind. Fain and his family quickly went inside and braced for the worse.

About 2.5 miles north of Fain’s house as the crow flies, J.D. Sutton was making last-second preparations to his home and farm. Sutton checked on his wife and son along with his cows, goats and chickens.

Sutton had spent the day out working on some early outages in the Brewton area caused by the outer bands of the hurricane before the weather started to make it unsafe to work. He even had to cut and remove two trees out of the road to get back home.

Both Fain and Sutton are local operations linemen with Alabama Power.

They also both began Friday night hopeful that the worst of Isaias’ impact would be far away from their homes and both were preparing to roll out at 6 a.m. Saturday morning to help others in their roles with Alabama Power.

It would not be a restful night.

Three different times during the night, the Suttons took refuge in their storm shelter, fearing the roof was close to being ripped off the house.

Fain could hear trees snapping and falling, cringing with each sound, half-expecting something to strike his home.

At 11 p.m., Sutton took his side-by-side all-terrain vehicle out to check on his animals. About half of the trees were down on the 30 acres that make up the bulk of his farm. Fences were broken and the 18 head of cattle and 10 goats had to be corralled into a smaller space.

“I could already tell it was bad, even in the dark,” he said.

For a while, Sutton could only find 17 cattle, until finally a calf came out of the wood line, visibly shaken from the storm.

He drove down to a campground on his property. Some residents from Pensacola had fled Isaias to ride out the storm at the campground, not expecting to see the level of impact in Brewton. Everyone at the campground was safe, although a vacated camper had been turned on its side by the winds.

Sutton then drove his side-by-side searching for any clear path to the road with no success in the dark.

Daybreak would reveal there was no path to the road for either Sutton or Fain.

For Fain, trees had fallen on his shop and some shingles had blown off of his roof. He lost power and water. Most pressing were the large pines that prevented him from getting out of his driveway.

“It was overwhelming,” he said. “You almost didn’t know where to start.”

He got out his chainsaw and went to work. A neighbor showed up with his tractor and after a few hours Fain was able to get out.

Sutton was even more hemmed in. He started cutting trees but it seemed insurmountable to begin with.

“The more you cut, the more you feel like you ain’t getting nowhere,” he said.

All the while, his phone was ringing from public officials in Brewton wondering if he was going to be able to come help assess the damage. Road crews finally made their way to Sutton’s farm and shortly after noon, he, too was at work for Alabama Power.

Both men worked with Alabama Power crews and those from other parts of Alabama and even other states as word of the severity of damage in and around Brewton spread.

Fain tried to keep his mind from wondering about his 15-year-old daughter and his son, who was home for fall break from Auburn, back at his damaged property. His wife was out of the country visiting their oldest daughter, so the children were at home alone. Rains continued and he worried about the roof of his house and the trees on his shop.

 

Fain remembered at a recent safety renewal meeting hearing about an employee assistance hotline Alabama Power provides.

“I’ll always help anybody, but I’m the last person to ask for help,” Fain said.

Despite his reluctance, he called the number and shared his concerns. He was told not to worry, something would be done.

“When I pulled back home that night, the trees were off my shop and tarps were covering all of the damage on the roofs,” Fain said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

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What would follow for both Fain and Sutton were long days heading deep into the night working to get power restored. Trees had to be removed, poles and lines replaced and the extensive work took days.

Sutton and Fain are continually impressed with neighbors helping them and others as the cleanup will still take much longer.

More than 400,000 Alabama Power customers had their power affected by Hurricane Isaias, and 95% were restored within 48 hours of when Isaias made landfall. The final 5%, including those in the hardest hit areas around Brewton, were restored by October 14. Cleanup and restoration efforts continued throughout the week as more extensive repairs were completed on some homes to allow for safe reconnection of service.

RELATED: After Hurricane Isaias, restoring service to Alabama Power customers is a team effort

Hurricane Isaias damaged transmission and distribution infrastructure in the Brewton and surrounding areas. Between Brewton, East Brewton, Castleberry, Pollard and parts of Conecuh County, more than 4,400 customers lost power.

Even today, more than two weeks later, Sutton is helping troubleshoot some issues around Brewton and identifying houses that up until now could not safely receive power because of the damage to those homes.

Fain said he was blown away watching neighbor helping neighbor throughout the community.

Sutton and Fain have worked many storms throughout Alabama and even in other states. Both said this experience has made them even more empathetic to the people they are called to help.

“Of all of the storms I’ve worked, I now have an even better understanding of what people are going through,” Fain said.

“Everybody tells me, ‘Thank you for getting the lights on,’” Sutton said. “I tell them, ‘Thank you for being patient.’”