Storm Stories: Flooding, darkened hotel rooms cause headaches

SNSI

While the main hospitals in Springfield weathered the storm relatively well, not all medical facilities came out unscathed.

Springfield Neurological and Spine Institute lost power Jan. 12–17. During that time, according to clinic president Brian Williams, the fire suppression system filled with water due to a loss of line pressure. Those lines had to be drained to avoid freezing pipes – but the drain, located in the basement, could not be pumped out without power.

The elevator began to fill with ground water because the building’s sump pumps were inoperative, and a kerosene heater had to be employed to prevent the boiler from freezing.

The clinic operated until late into the evening on Jan. 18 and 19 – using donated space in CoxHealth’s pediatric unit at The Turner Center.

“Within 24 hours, they had us clinic space,” Williams said. “Because of what we deal with, people are in pain and they drive long distances. We tried to let everyone know we were closed, but a few patients came up, so we wanted to make sure we got them in.”

Williams said he’s also grateful to other companies that helped through the storm, including Connelly Plumbing, Knight Heating & Air, AC Electrical and ServPro.

Oasis Inn and Convention Center

Oasis offered shelter to more than 30 employees who were without electricity – once its own power returned.

The hotel, owned by Prime Inc. owner Robert Low, was in the dark for nearly 40 hours Jan. 12–14. General Manager Kevin Klein said he had to find rooms at other hotels for about 50 guests. The neighboring Campus Inn, which exclusively houses Prime employees, sent its guests to a makeshift shelter in the Prime terminal.

But once power was back on, business was booming – and that meant putting all its employees to work, including those using the hotel as a shelter.

“We were asking so much of them – our housekeepers, for example, had to work a day shift and a second shift to keep the rooms clean,” Klein said. “We provided breakfast, lunch and dinner to employees and their families who were staying at the hotel.”

A handful of employees were still staying at the hotel as of Jan. 24.

Positronic Industries

It was both the worst-case and best-case scenario for Springfield’s Positronic Industries following the ice storm.

Two of its four electronics connectors manufacturing plants – including headquarters at 423 N. Campbell Ave. – were without power for several days, while the other two were virtually unaffected.

Operations Manager Paul Persson said the company’s bottom line was down by about 40 percent for that first week after the storm.

“Overall, I feel like we were pretty lucky,” Persson said. “I didn’t look at the financials until (Jan. 22) because I was really worried, but we should emerge in relatively good shape.”

The employees themselves were also hit hard. Persson said that nearly 80 percent of the workers were back on the job when power to all the facilities was restored by Jan. 18.

“We had many people who lost power for a significant period, but many of them were chipper and showed up for work anyway,” he said. “For some people, when they know the house is OK and it’s just a matter of waiting out the electric company, it was a little bit of normalcy and routine that they were desperately needing.”