The terrain was more difficult than what these lineworkers were used to. The damage was more extensive than a Missouri windstorm. The days were longer and the sleeping conditions were tougher. However, these hundreds of lineworkers who traveled to Georgia did what they do in Missouri: work until every light is turned back on.
Hurricane Helene made landfall late on Sept. 26, leaving behind unprecedented damage and devastation along its path. In response, 353 Missouri lineworkers from 33 electric cooperatives traveled to southeast Georgia to restore power to the members of five rural electric co-ops. In total, 2,500 electric cooperative lineworkers from across the country and thousands more contractors would assist in restoring power to 450,000 Georgia electric cooperative members.
Helene will never be forgotten in the Peach State, says Harry Reeves, the vice president of training and safety for Georgia EMC, the statewide electric cooperative association.
United Electric Cooperative lineworker Derek Hailey assesses the damage while restoring power at Excelsior EMC in southeast Georgia.
“I’ve been doing this 51 years and this is by far the worst we’ve ever seen,” he says. “We had 100-plus mph winds with tornadoes thrown in. Luckily we didn’t have the flooding that North Carolina had, but this was high winds and total devastation. Houses, buildings, pecan and pine orchards — all gone, just like that. It’s going to take us a long time to fully recover.”
The first wave of crews left after Helene made landfall to assist co-ops on the Gulf Coast. When the storm turned east, so did they. “Every storm is different,” says Johnie Hendrix, vice president of risk management and training for Missouri’s Electric Cooperatives, which coordinates the mutual aid. “We had crews heading to other co-ops and thanks to our staff we were able to shift them to southeast Georgia where they were needed.”
Missouri’s crews are usually staged at the same cooperative during storm response, but that wasn’t the case for Helene. It caused so much damage that the first wave of 200 lineworkers was the most ever sent by Missouri, and they were followed by 150 more a few weeks later.
Half of the initial wave was sent to far southeast Georgia to assist Okefenoke REMC where nearly 80% of the cooperatives’ 43,000 members were without power. Right after the storm, the co-op struggled to assess the damage due to a loss of cell service and radio transmission.
West Central Electric Cooperative lineworker Jesse Underwood pulls a line through a member’s backyard while restoring power just outside of Statesboro, Georgia.
David Smith, manager of safety training, loss control and human resources, says his lineworkers battled the outages on their own for about the first 36 hours. “Those Missouri trucks started rolling in and once we got them situated and paired up with our guys, their trucks rolled out and boy were our lineworkers and members happy to see them. It’s a big morale boost to see help come in.”
A similar situation played out 100 miles north at Excelsior EMC in Metter, Georgia, where not a single one of the 25,000 meters on their system was turning. Missouri cooperative lineworkers would spend two weeks at Excelsior rebuilding the entire distribution system.
In total, Missouri had boots on the ground for more than three weeks. Whether it was a honk of the horn, a homemade thank you card or a drink, they were met with unwavering hospitality from locals thankful for their work.
Crews from Licking-based Intercounty Electric Cooperative may have been the biggest benefactors of that hospitality while assisting Little Ocmulgee EMC. There were seven tent cities — simple cots lined up under tents — located throughout the state. The Intercounty lineworkers were housed at a consolidated tent city in Vidalia, Georgia, which served three cooperatives. Little Ocmulgee was the westernmost co-op at that tent city and Intercounty’s 10 lineworkers were working on the far western part of the co-op, leaving them an hour’s drive to start and finish their day.
Crawford Electric Cooperative lineworker Bob White helps restore power after Hurricane Helene devastated southeast Georgia.
When parishioners at nearby Pleasant Hill Church heard about the Intercounty crews, they stepped up and gave them a close spot to stay. “They put us up in their community room with sleeping bags, showers, snacks, meals in the fridge and they would do our laundry while we were working,” says Intercounty’s Aaron Scantlin. “We were able to get to work right away each day and I think it sped up the restoration process.”
Aaron says he and the other lineworkers were sure to leave a donation for the church before heading home.
The most important goal for Missouri’s electric cooperatives is ensuring each employee returns home to their families safely. The last of Missouri’s 353 lineworkers were back in the Show-Me State 24 days after Helene hit. Their hard work and desire to turn lights back on left an indelible impact on those they helped.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard people brag about crews during a storm any more than what I heard about the Missouri crews,” says Harry. “We hope we never need you again; but if we do, y’all are on our speed dial.”