Five electric cooperatives in Oklahoma collectively sent more than 30 lineworkers to assist sister cooperatives in Georgia following unprecedented damage and historic flooding in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Helene made landfall late on September 26 at Category 4 intensity packing 140-mph winds, plowing into Florida with catastrophic storm surge and damaging winds and dumping profuse rainfall over the Southeast. Helene was the strongest hurricane on record to landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region.
Crews from the following electric cooperatives have dispatched mutual aid:
- Lake Region Electric Cooperative, Hulbert, Okla. – assisted Snapping Shoals EMC, Covington-GA then moved to assist Jefferson Energy Cooperative, Wrens-GA
- Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative, Collinsville, Okla. – assisted Snapping Shoals EMC, Covington-GA then moved to assist Jefferson Energy Cooperative, Wrens-GA
- Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative, Seminole, Okla. – assisting Jefferson Energy Cooperative, Wrens-GA
- Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Vinita, Okla. – assisting Jefferson Energy Cooperative, Wrens-GA
- People’s Electric Cooperative, Ada, Okla. – assisting Jefferson Energy Cooperative, Wrens-GA
Electric cooperative officials say this will be a multi-week restoration effort and devastation in some areas is unprecedented due to extreme flooding and impassable roads. Nationwide, cooperative crews account for more than 6,400 personnel including lineworkers, support staff, right-of-way contractors, warehouse staff, safety employees and command center staff from more than a dozen states, according to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with our sister cooperatives in all states on the path of the destructive Hurricane Helene,” Chris Meyers, general manager of the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, said. “We commend our lineworkers for selflessly leaving their homes to help our neighbors in Georgia. We pray for their safe journey and safe restoration efforts.”
Crews from Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives, standing on the principle of Cooperation Among Cooperatives, are prepared to rotate as needed to ensure power is restored in hurricane-stricken areas.
