Gaffney man's job is to help make order out of chaos

Gaffney residents Phillip Gibson and Sheila Reynolds are shown looking over storm damage from Hurricane Ike in Nederland, Texas, in September. The town is about 10 miles inland from Port Arthur on the Gulf Coast. Arriving in total darkness on the Gulf Coast, Gaffney resident Phillip Gibson learned last month how the world worked before electricity was invented.

Gibson, a self-employed insurance agent, has stumbled into a new line of work, helping power companies nationally get their customers' power turned back on following natural disasters.

Since 2005, the Gaffney resident has helped various power companies do damage assessments caused by an ice storm, a wind storm and hurricanes Gustav and Ike. His work assignments have taken him to North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Gibson is a part-time paid electrical system inspector with the engineering consultant group Synergetic Design Inc. based in Duncan, S.C. His job is best described as a first responder to natural disasters where outages have overwhelmed a local power company.

After Hurricane Ike, Gibson spent a week with 130 contract inspectors riding the entire power grid operated by CenterPoint Energy in the Houston area. He rode around in a sport utility vehicle with another inspector in daylight hours.

Their job involved identifying blown fuses, missing pole wires, leaking transformers and other type of damage to Houston's electrical distribution system.

Gibson and his partner would take careful notes on the location where the damage occurred and any equipment a power company's line crews needed to make the repairs. Their work allowed the utility to make a coordinated response so power could be restored to area customers in a timely manner.

Gibson became a storm damage worker three years ago when a friend suggested he look into becoming a contract utility inspector.

"I was looking for an adventure," Gibson said. "I had time available. I became interested in the learning process involved in damage assessment to fix power outages. It's a lot different from sitting at a desk. I enjoy the opportunity to get out in the field and help people."

Much like a Mission Impossible agent, Gibson does have the option to say no when Synergetic Design calls with an offer to do storm damage field work. A scheduling conflict prevented him from being able to help with Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"I have to keep a bag packed because they could call me at any time of night and ask me to get on a plane," Gibson said.

Gibson spent eight days in Mississippi and Louisiana following Hurricane Gustav in September. He was home for a week before another call sent him to Alvin and Nederland, Texas, to do Hurricane Ike damage assessment.

"When I got home from Mississippi, I had to turn right around a week later and fly to Texas. We sat around in a hotel and waited to see where Hurricane Ike was going to hit," Gibson said. "The wind was still blowing at 50 miles an hour as we were on our way to Beaumont. We caught the tail end of the hurricane."

Gibson found himself working in Texas with Gaffney resident Sheila Reynolds. Reynolds, a full-time employee with Synergetic Design, takes care of travel arrangements for the small army of inspectors the company employs for post-storm damage assessment.

"The first couple of days are always complete chaos," Gibson said. "Power companies are busy identifying the work that needs to be done. Their employees camp out in the operations center. Sheila (Reynolds) is our go-to person to take care of our group needs. We don't see how we could manage without Sheila's help."

During Hurricane Ike, a total of 27 power companies assisted the Gulf Coast area company Entergy in the utility's effort to restore power around the Houston area. Utility workers came from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia and California to assist with repairing post-Ike hurricane damage.

A retired judge was among the group of inspectors Gibson worked with in Texas.

"We would make notes on a map and take our findings back to the operations center where the company would prioritize all the repairs," Gibson said. "We were the first people in the area following the storm. They would fly us in because we could get it done quickly and help the power companies get back on line as soon as possible."

There was little down time while Gibson was working. A typical day would begin at 5 a.m. and continue until dark.

The inspectors would return to hotels with no hot water and electricity until utilities could restore power in the area. The spartan conditions in hotels provided an extra incentive to help utility workers get the power turned back on quickly.

But Gibson said the real reward comes from playing a small role in helping different areas recover from a natural disaster.

"It gives me a real sense of satisfaction in being able to help people," Gibson said.