LeTourneau University houses over 250 SWEPCO linemen

LONGVIEW — LeTourneau University opened its doors and dorm rooms for over 250 linemen to rest overnight according to our news partner KETK. Workers would normally stay in hotels, but they are booked up due to local families not having power. “The other option is they sleep in a cot, in a truck or they sleep in a tent. Where else are we going to put them?” said Robinson. Afraid of the alternative, SWEPCO turned locally and the timing was perfect in coordination with the university. After their 16-hour shift in the scorching heat, every lineman can rest comfortably.

“Because of previous camps all of our spaces were full and so, since the storm happened right around the time then all of those campers left and left us with the availability to have five open dorms in the first place,” said Marty Lane, Director of Conference and Event Services at LeTourneau University. This is the first time in Lane’s 15 years at the university to do something like this.
Kindergarteners who are at a summer camp on campus left letters of thanks for the linemen’s hard work. “They realize and understand ‘Hey! There’s these workers doing this and that’s why we have air conditioning,’ so they’re getting it and understanding it,” said Lane.

SWEPCO said 100 more workers are on their way Wednesday night to continue working on the damaged areas.