MTEMC headed to Louisiana in wake of Hurricane Gustav
MTEMC's Jim Raines, left, John Todd and Chris Still load up their trucks Tuesday morning with Gatorade and water, which will be needed to keep the crews rehydrated while helping to restore power in Louisiana over the next few weeks.
Twenty-six Middle Tennessee Electric employees are on their way to Louisiana this morning, as they'll join efforts to restore power in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.
The workers and 16 trucks departed from the electric cooperative’s Franklin Office at noon. Their destination is Washington Parish in Louisiana where they will report to Washington-St. Tammany Electric. They will be assisting that electric cooperative and Dixie Electric Membership Corporation. Together these cooperatives serve a largely rural area north of New Orleans and east of Baton Rouge.
"We got the call yesterday that Louisiana needed help," said MTEMC's Vice President of Marketing and Communications Chris Jones. "MTEMC and a number of other electric cooperatives in Tennessee are responding to that call.”
The crews are expected to arrive around midnight and remain for approximately two weeks.
Jones said MTEMC’s line crews are often eager to help when situations are at their worst.
"It is amazing to watch these guys when they know people are in need," he said. "That's when they're at their best. We're very proud of them."
The crews will have plenty to keep them busy. Together, Washington-St. Tammany and Dixie reported well more than 100,000 of their members are without power.
"As cooperatives," Jones said, "one of our core values is assisting other cooperatives in need. If we had a bad ice storm, you can bet these cooperatives would be there to help us if we needed them."
Middle Tennessee Electric serves nearly 180,000 members in Rutherford, Williamson, Wilson, Cannon and surrounding counties.
Posted on September 2, 2008.
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