Eversource workers returned to Massachusetts Thursday after lending a helping hand in Louisiana.
The linemen spent two weeks in the Bayou State, helping restore power after Hurricane Ida.
“All the poles were down; wires- there wasn’t a pole standing,” said lineman Ray LaFave. “So, we reconducted, and built over two miles worth of line.”
According to them, Ida left Louisiana in even worse condition than Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“Houses no roofs, houses totally gone. You know, you can’t drive down some of the streets because of the flooding. You know, before we got there, trees in the road,” LaFave said. “Even the locals, they say they’ve never seen anything like this before.”
People there still living without power agree.
“I got COPD and asthma and asbestos and I can’t use my breathing machine because I got no electricity,” said Lafourche, Louisianna resident Alvin Robichaux.
But, despite so many people losing literally everything – the Eversource workers say they were overwhelmed by the local hospitality.
“It was unbelievable,” LaFave said. “Everywhere you went, there were people all along the road there to help you, get you anything, toiletries, whatever you needed, they were willing to do it for you.”
The linemen say they stayed in makeshift camps filled with hundreds of other contract workers — People from all across North America who showed up to help Louisiana rebuild.
While they’re glad to return home to their families, they said they wish they could have stayed and done more.
“It’s gonna be a long time before the place is totally back to normal,” LaFave said.
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