BELLEVILLE, Ill. — When storms roll in, so do the linemen. Saturday's tornadoes took out more than 70 power poles in Illinois. Every pole had to be replaced and the lines restored.
"We had a lot of broken poles, a lot of broken cross arms. We did a lot of pole change outs," journeyman lineman Randi Blaser with Ameren Illinois told 5 On Your Side.
5 On Your Side's Tracy Hinson gave it a try on Wednesday. She was much slower than Blaser, who did the work with ease.
"When you are working with gloves on it, it slows you down and when you're trying not to drop pieces that slows you down too," Hinson said.
Blaser is one of only a handful of women journeymen linemen in the region but says power tools have equalized the playing field between men and women journeymen linemen.
"For someone of unique stature, female, not very tall, I can do what they can do, what the guys can do," she said.
One of the hardest parts of the job is the weather.
"We work in the heat, we work in the rain, and we work in the winter," Blaser told 5 On Your Side. She even climbed power poles and did bucket work up until the five-month mark of her pregnancy ... with twins!
On a typical week, journeymen linemen work normal hours Monday through Friday. When storms roll in, they can be called out to help restore power and fix broken lines.
The next busy day for Ameren crews might just be Thursday.