High winds caused a dark Memorial Day across parts of Kansas. Scattered power outages in Wichita and Salina were reported as very strong south winds continued to blow across the state.

The National Weather Service reported a gust of 49 mph in Wichita on Monday afternoon and 52 mph gusts earlier in the day in Salina and Russell. Whle all across the state dealt with very strong sustained winds as tempatures continued to rise.

Dispatchers say there had been isolated reports of power lines down, but none had triggered any grass fires. Power was quickly restored by line crews. The small outages did not seem to hamper most that were enjoying their holiday weekend.

 The Weather Service says the high winds were created by a tight pressure gradient across Kansas driven by a surface low forming in Colorado.

History will note the spring of 2011 being riddled with tornados. Not just the big spring storms the race through Kansas and Oklahoma every spring, but huge man killing tornados all across the South. Tornados that create so much havoc and destruction that, reporters liken the damage to a war zone. These tornados attack cities and homes without conscience or bias.

April 22^nd, 2011 – St. Louis Lambert Field is devastated by tornados. Tornadoes were reported in several counties in the St. Louis area, and at one point utility company Ameren Missouri reported more than 47,000 power outages, with another 7,000 reported in Illinois.

Ameren Services of Missouri had restored power to essentially all customers impacted by outages resulting from this severe storm by April 26^th. The company has deactivated its Emergency Operations Center as power restoration efforts and cleanup work continue in its final stages.

April 27^th, 2011 – Storms and tornadoes have left more than 10,000 Alabama Power customers with so much damage to their homes that they are unable to receive power from the company. In hundreds of cases, the homes that Alabama Power served no longer exist. In all, 412,000 customers were without power at the peak of the storms. The historic tornadoes and severe weather damaged or destroyed more than 5,200 poles and more than 400 transmission system structures. In addition, more than 300 substations lost power and six substations were either destroyed or suffered significant damage. In many places, the electrical system has to be completely rebuilt.

The unsung heros are the linemen who work tirelessly to restore our power. Crews from Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and the Carolinas joined Alabama Power crews and support staff in the effort to restore power to all customers. At the peak of the restoration operation, about 10,000 personnel were working across Alabama Power territory to restore power.

May 23, 2011 - Empire's electrical system has sustained severe damage due to the devastating tornado that tore through Joplin. As Empire Electric continues to make assessments to their system, but both Empire crews and contractor crews are making repairs. Reports of nearly 100 deaths and hundreds of injuries continue to pour in from this killer storm. Approximately 20,000 Empire customers have reported a loss of power as crews feverishly work to restore power to critical infrastructure.

The product demands of these storms are felt across the nation by those who supply products to our electrical infrastructure. Many manufactures, like ECP Utility, gear up to keep the supply of guy anchors and pole line hardware available to the Utility Companies. Jeff Wilkinson, ECP Utility spokesman, said “our production lines are constantly churning our product to keep up with the demand”. Wilkinson went on to say “while these storms put a strain on the raw material supply, we are working with steel mills to make sure that we can supply everyone’s needs in a timely manner”.

While history will likely remember 2011 as the year of the killer tornados, those close to the electric utility industry will remember this year as a year full of challenges for the unsung heroes within the industry. From suppliers to engineers and linemen, many will spend sleepless nights working to help homeowners and cities regain power so that recovery can start.