KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The first August tornado in Knox County since 1950 caused the third-largest power outage in the history of the Knoxville Utilities Board.
"A lot of damage to homes, businesses and certainly power lines," said John Williams, the VP of engineering and construction at KUB.
KUB made over 1,900 repairs during a 78-hour time period after the tornado struck. Up to 74,000 customers experienced a power outage during the storm.
"To put that 74,000 into perspective, the time that power was out during the event is equivalent to all the outages we had last year," said Williams.
Forty-four outside crews came in to help KUB workers get to damaged lines by removing debris -- mostly trees. Trees were responsible for around 83% of power outages. Lightning accounted for another 10% of outages.
Being able to communicate better with the public through social media is one way that KUB wants to improve.
"So even when they can't see us out their window, they can see us working 24/7 and when we're coming their direction," said Williams.
While this was a historic outage, KUB says they are ready for the next one.
"Making sure customers know what we know as fast as we can, and giving them info as accurately as we can. We want to be a trusted resource to our community. When we say we are going to do something, we need to follow through and do it," said Williams.