Local Eversource Linemen Helping To Restore Power In Louisiana

Just like he did 16 years ago when Hurricane Katrina devasted New Orleans, local Eversource Senior Line Supervisor, Matt Ferrarin, is currently on the job to help restore power to the more than one million people without it.

Ferrarin, who spoke with Slater and Marjo on Wednesday morning, noted that he and his son, Christopher, out of Cheshire, CT are joined by Pittsfield local Christopher Tracy as well as Dalton's Kyle Kirchner, all of whom are linemen.

Matt and his son, Christopher, are pictured below.

As of Wednesday morning, Ferrarin and company were held up in Meridian, MS, and still trying to get to the southwest corner of Louisiana. Floodwaters are still impeding travel.

It's really nothing pretty, what we signed up for, we're working 18-hour shifts and trying to get 6 hours rest. It's a two-week rotation, if we do end up here for two weeks, they will send some backup crews down here to give us a hand and then relieve us.

I have always told people, doing this for years, I guess looking at a picture, you can only see the picture, but being in that environment, and just the sights and the surroundings snd the smell, there is something about a smell after a storm and it sticks with ya, it's kind of strange.

Let me tell ya, it is hot and steamy here right now, and are trying to find water to stay hydrated. It's hot down here right now.

You know, we complain about how cold it is in The Berkshires and the snow, but being down here with the destruction and the heat and the bugs and the insects, we even heard that a lineman got attacked by an alligator, so we appreciate where we live. -Matt Ferrarin.

Slater and Marjo are hoping to catch up and get more updates on the situation during the week and into next.