Alabama Power needed less than just 24 hours to complete restoration operations following this week’s onslaught of severe weather, even after widespread tornadic activity.

The brunt of the life-threatening severe weather moved through the Yellowhammer State on Wednesday; the system included multiple tornadoes, pummeling wind and rain.

Preliminary data from the National Weather Service indicates 18 tornadoes touched down in Alabama on the day, including an EF-2 tornado with peak winds of 130 mph in Chilton County, an EF-1 tornado with 110 mph winds in Hale County and another EF-1 with 90 mph winds in Tuscaloosa County.

Overall, the storms tore through a wide swath of the state, including areas in Alabama Power’s service territory. A release from the company advised the most significant damage in that territory included Blount, Chilton, Dallas, Montgomery, Jefferson, Shelby and Tuscaloosa Counties.

More than 61,000 customers were reportedly affected by the severe weather.

However, Alabama Power crews were fully prepared and moved instantaneously, as soon as it was safe, on Wednesday and Thursday to rapidly restore service. Additionally, the company’s strategic investment in grid technology has led to enhanced reliability and response times for Alabamians.

By midnight Thursday, the company had restored power to all customers who could take service – less than 24 hours after the storms exited the state.

“Alabama’s linemen are truly unsung heroes,” Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, president of the Alabama Public Service Commission, told Yellowhammer News on Friday. “Linemen courageously leave their families and the comfort of their homes, venturing out into the toughest of conditions, to keep the lights on for Alabamians in every corner of our great state. Today, as we should every day, Alabama thanks and salutes our linemen for their dedicated hard work and sacrifice.”

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn