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Rolla utility crews and mutual-aid teams continue restoring power after tornado
Summary
Rolla Municipal Utilities (RMU) crews and mutual‑aid teams have restored thousands of meters since the tornado; priorities have included nursing homes, senior housing and major circuits, but about 1,200–1,600 customers remained without service as crews shift to slower service-line work, RMU representatives said.
Rodney, a representative of Rolla Municipal Utilities, said RMU and mutual‑aid crews worked through the weekend to restore electricity after the tornado, initially finding about 8,000 of the utility’s roughly 10,000 meters without power.
“We had about 8,000 customers out at the, right after the tornado hit,” Rodney said, and crews restored thousands of those meters over several days. He said crews were able to re‑energize two substations and restore roughly 2,400 customers Monday night after sectional work; by one morning of late restoration work RMU’s field count was in the 1,600‑meter range and later estimates were “in that 1,200, 1,300” band.
The nut of RMU’s strategy has been to maximize the number of customers returned quickly while protecting health‑care and other critical facilities. Rodney said crews focused first on sectionalizing and getting two nearby substations back online so circuits that feed Heritage Heights, Wellington Place and other senior housing could be energized. “Our main goal is to get the most customers on, get emergency services on … and get the most customers on the fastest,” he said.
Crews from Columbia, Fulton, West Plains, Waynesville, Saint James and other mutual‑aid partners worked alongside RMU staff, Rodney said. Work areas described in the briefing included McCutcheon Drive, Greenacres, Hutchinson Subdivision, Great Oaks and Landing Lane; crews cleared downed poles and large trees, replaced poles and repaired taps and arresters before re‑energizing trunk lines.
Rodney warned that restoration grows slower as crews move from re‑establishing major circuits to repairing individual service lines and meters. “Eventually, we’re gonna start working on service lines, individual customer houses, and that’s really gonna get slow because we’re doing now … one at a time or two at a time,” he said.
RMU also urged residents in newly restored areas to limit electric demand while circuits stabilize. Rodney described a recent overload when many thermostats and HVAC systems started simultaneously after a long outage: “When we pick up a load that’s been off for a long time … everyone’s heat kicked on. And so we actually tripped that breaker off at the substation.” He also advised customers to keep main breakers off until they can inspect appliances and to be cautious with generators and cooking equipment when power returns to avoid accidental fires.
City and RMU staff said financial and logistical support from mutual aid is paid later: visiting utilities bill RMU for time and labor, and the city is pursuing FEMA and state assistance; RMU said it expects initial expenses to be paid from reserves until reimbursements are available.
With wind and safety conditions sometimes forcing crews to pause work, RMU said restoration likely will continue into the coming week for many customers; residents were asked to keep reporting lingering outages through the outage system and to flag dangerous downed lines for crews to inspect.
