Most Alabama co-ops finishing work after Matthew

Oct. 14 — Most of the service and construction crews from Alabama’s rural electric co-ops that have been doing power restoration work in South Carolina are being released to go home.

Santee Cooperative still has over 14,000 members without power, but they are not requesting any further assistance.

When Hurricane Matthew was bearing down on the Atlantic coast, Alabama’s co-ops responded in full force to the call for help. Two Florida co-ops requested as much help as possible to be staged in advance of the storm. Once the storm passed and restoration work there was completed, some co-ops sent fresh crews to South Carolina to help restore power there, while others sent the crews that were already in Florida northward.

AREA estimates a total of 170 men were sent at one time for Hurricane Matthew restoration work, making it one of the largest response efforts for the state, if not the largest, since Hurricane Katrina.