In the challenging first days of recovery after a natural disaster, the focus of many organizations turns to the basics: water, food, shelter, and of course power. For places like hospitals, these losses are even more acute, as patients are sometimes left without the life-saving devices they need.
That’s precisely why one job took on special meaning for two linemen with Duke Energy in North Carolina.
Matt Martinka, a Journeyman lineman in the Asheville area, and line apprentice Nathan Curlee volunteered to do the difficult work of restoring power to the Asheville VA Medical Center, which serves veterans in the western North Carolina region.
“I heard in the office there was a chance we could get the … VA hospital back on, and I come from a long line—my dad, my grandpa, all my nieces, I was Air Force, my son is a Marine—so I said, ‘Hey, I want this,'” recalls Martinka in a video made by Duke Energy. “I told my apprentice, and we were like let’s get this one for the VA.”
What followed was anything but ordinary. Because of washed out roads, downed trees, and the general mess left behind by the catastrophic storm, the two were required to hike 1.5 miles in the mountainous terrain of Asheville to diagnose the problems and bring energy back to the hospital.
“Trying to find a place to get in was the hardest part because of all the flooding and the up and down terrain that was covered in bushes to our chest,” Martinka said. “We finally got to a flat, but it was a washed-out area from the floods, so every step you’re almost losing your boots in the mud. It actually made it kind of hard to climb because I had so much mud on my boots, but it was all worth it to get there.”
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, energy companies have scrambled to rebuild the infrastructure of poles, transmission lines, and substations knocked out or washed away by the flood waters and high winds. Still today, more than a week after the storm passed through the region, nearly 500,000 customers remain without power in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Courtesy Duke Energy
The amount of rebuilding work that has been and will be required of communities is difficult to comprehend, but every gesture, small or large, can bring hope and relief. That’s why Curlee said he was happy to be a part of the efforts to return power to the VA center.
“I feel like in our own way, we gave back. Those guys have given so much, and in our way, we gave it back to them,” Curlee said.
Veterans in the Asheville area can check the status of the hospital’s operations on their website.
