Sometimes you have a choice to get wet; sometimes you don’t. Splashing through puddles for fun is one thing. Forgetting your umbrella is another. Getting doused with 27 trillion gallons of rain, which is how much Hurricane Harvey dumped on Texas and Louisiana, is altogether something else.
As promised, this month we are doing a deep dive on the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, plus a look at the wildfires devastating California. On the safety side, Mike Johnston, Tom O’Connor, David Shapiro and Claire Swedberg each write about what to look for in equipment that has suffered water or fire damage. Can you reuse it? Will it ever be safe?
Susan Bloom writes about how ECs, distributors and others responded to the storms in “All Hands on Deck." Chuck Ross describes how utilities plan for possible disruptions in “Utilities Pitch In." In Industry Watch, Rick Laezman covers one aspect of the California wildfires. Though there has been a great deal of speculation as to what caused those fires in the first place, it remains unknown as of this writing. Also in Industry Watch, Marlena Chertock updates us on the Caribbean situation in “Puerto Rico Begins Rebuilding Electric Grid.” For all of these affected areas, the recovery process is going to take months, if not years.
You might have been expecting our annual tools and equipment issue (and if you keep such close tabs on what we have planned, bless your heart). Don’t worry, we still have plenty of that for you, as well. In his Tool Trends article, Jeff Griffin brings you news on what’s happening in cable management. In Cool Tools, Jeff covers all sorts of gadgets. Do you have space in your tool bag for the drill hole exit point finder? There are all sorts of nifty devices out there that could be useful on the job site.
On top of all that, tools and accessories are the featured products this month. As always, our product listings can be found at http://www.ecmag.com/manufacturer-product.
Maybe you were affected by these recent hurricanes and wildfires. Perhaps your company has been helping out with the recovery efforts in some way. If so, we want to hear from you! Share your story with us on any of our social media platforms—Facebook (facebook.com/ElectricalContractorMagazine), Twitter (@ecmagdotcom) and Instagram (ecmagdotcom) are just three places you can find us. Or, you can email us at [email protected].
About The Author
Julie Mazur
Managing Editor, Electrical Contractor magazineJulie Mazur is the managing editor of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR, Safety Leader and Line Contractor magazines. Before coming to ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR, she was an editor at Knight-Ridder/Tribune newspapers and the Los Angeles Times and taught English as a foreign language in Egypt and Japan. As managing editor, Julie oversees the whole publishing arc. She plans and assigns the stories for every issue, works with writers and designers and interacts with the printing plant. She has a mass communications B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. Go Bears!
Permanently retired from ziplining, Julie is an enthusiastic sports spectator and radio listener. She likes to read, exercise and cook.
JOHNSON is a writer and editor living outside Washington, D.C. He has worked in magazine, web and journal publishing since 2006, and was formerly the digital editor for ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR magazine. Learn more at www.tjfreelance.com.
