Cooperative spirit shines in Hurricane recovery efforts
Cooperation among electric cooperatives is one of the core principles we were founded on and that’s never been more apparent than this year when we responded to Hurricanes Helene and Beryl.
“When a natural disaster affects an electric co-op, you can bet CoServ crews won’t be far behind,” said Cody Coulter, Director of Operations. “We are proud of our linemen and support personnel who spent so many days away from family helping restore power for members of other co-ops.”
In September, CoServ sent three crews totaling 19 Employees to Georgia to assist Sawnee EMC in the north. However, the storm took a more easterly track, so CoServ’s crews were redirected to assist Washington EMC southeast of Atlanta. The co-op had lost power to 89% of its meters when CoServ crews arrived.
“Your crews have had some of the more complicated outages,” said Chad Davis, an executive with Washington EMC. “CoServ crews have been vital in getting some of the harder hit areas right around the city limits of Sandersville [back on].” On Oct. 8, CoServ sent 20 more linemen and support personnel so the first group could come home.
In July, Hurricane Beryl was one of the biggest natural disasters to hit Texas in recent years, leaving thousands without power in South Texas. Two CoServ crews spent a week restoring power in the Cleveland, Texas area.
They worked from dawn to dusk rebuilding power lines, installing new utility poles and replacing equipment for the Sam Houston Electric Cooperative.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our Employees who fought through everything Mother Nature could throw at them but remained focused on the task at hand – restoring power for members while also living up to CoServ’s core value of safety,” Cody said. “These are great examples of the cooperative spirit.”
