Lampasas — Rustin Oestreich is an electric lineman. He told Channel 6 he normally works in the Fort Hood area, but when Pike Electric LLC. asked local contractors if they wanted to work as part of the hurricane Florence relief effort, he went in a heartbeat.
"I jumped all over it to try and do my part," Oestreich said. "One of the best feelings in the world is turning on people who have been in the dark for a week or so."
In Jacksonville, North Carolina, Oestreich has been dealing with downed trees, downed telephone poles, and lines tangled everywhere. He told Channel 6, 90 percent of the city was out of power when he arrived seven days ago on September 13th. They began work in the middle of what was then a tropical storm.
"We started working Thursday night. It was pouring down, high winds, and all that," Oestreich said.
Oestreich told Channel 6 he has been forced to wade through chest high water to re-work poles and reconnect lines. His crew reinstalled new poles with the rain and wind still fighting them every minute.
The most dangerous part of the job, Oestreich said, was still the possibility of being electrocuted. He said crews would still have to connect "hot" lines, or lines with electricity going to it, with a dead line. He said crews used insulated tools and rubber gloves to protect themselves during the process. Crews were also careful to treat any line on the ground as "live" as a precaution.
Oestreich told Channel 6 the crews still don't know when they will be home, but the experience is well worth the danger.
"(It's) the appreciation of the people from the people who live here. They go out of their way to make sure we are taken care of while we get them taken care of," Oestreich said.
He told Channel 6, as of Wednesday morning, 80 percent of the city now power restored.