Alabama cooperatives continue hurricane response in Fla., Ga.

Oct. 22, 2018 – After restoring power to the southeast part of the state, Alabama’s rural electric cooperatives have now sent more than 140 men to storm-ravaged areas in Georgia and Florida to continue their work.

The crews left over the weekend to travel to Three Notch Electric Membership Corporation and Mitchell Electric Membership Cooperative in Georgia and West Florida Electric Cooperative and Talquin Electric Cooperative in Florida. As of Monday morning (Oct. 22), Georgia had almost 6,000 co-op outages remaining, and Florida reported nearly 26,000 outages in its co-op areas.

The Alabama crews completed their work and restored all outages in our state by Friday, Oct. 19, which allowed them to turn their attention to our neighboring states. Most cooperatives brought their crews home and sent fresh crews to Florida and Georgia.

More than 200 personnel from Alabama co-ops responded to help Pea River EC and Wiregrass EC after Hurricane Michael came ashore Oct. 10. Wiregrass EC in particular was hit hard, with more than 500 broken poles and 18,000 outages total.

Linemen are perhaps the most visible part of any power restoration project, but co-ops also send construction crews, warehousemen, mechanics and right-of-way crews. These employees must work together to restore power safely and as efficiently as possible. And there are the behind-the-scenes personnel who work to house and feed the crews, who also work the same long hours as the men in the field.

The Alabama co-ops that have sent crews to Georgia: Baldwin EMC, Clarke-Washington EMC, Coosa Valley EC, Joe Wheeler EMC, North Alabama EC, Sand Mountain EC and Tallapoosa River EC.

Alabama co-ops that have sent crews to Florida: Black Warrior EMC, Central Alabama EC, Cherokee EC, Covington EC, Dixie EC, Pioneer EC, South Alabama EC and Southern Pine EC.

Alabama’s 22 rural electric cooperatives deliver power to more than 1 million people in the state, and maintain more than 71,000 miles of power line.

Contact: Lenore Vickrey or Allison Law, 334-215-2732.