Minnesota Electric Workers Helping Hurricane Impacted Areas

When Hurricane Helene struck the Southeast two weeks ago, the people of that region knew there was going to be damage and even destruction. But parts of Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, the Upstate of South Carolina and Northern Georgia were overtaken with a storm like they had never seen. 

The power outages that impacted that area was wider reaching and impactful than other storms in the past. The number of power poles that were damaged and/or destroyed reached record high levels.  

There was far more work to be done to get power restored than the amount of Lineworkers in that area could cover. So, in the spirit of Electric Cooperatives, lineworkers from Minnesota’s Electric Co-Ops were among the outside crews that responded to that area, including workers from Stearns Electric who went to South Carolina.

Workers from 18 Electric Co-op's from Minnesota have sent support to those areas.  

My wife and I are from Western North Carolina, and our families and friends spent a week or more without power, so we can speak firsthand to the appreciation of the residents there.  

So many of those areas were so devastated that returning power back to their homes gave them a foundation of normalcy, which was so important. Many people in Western North Carolina still have no power, spotty cell service and no internet or cable. 

One of the Co-op's that serves the area where my wife and I are from is Rutherford Electric, their General Manager Dirk Burleson was quoted as saying that they have never experienced a situation where they faced such difficulty in reaching the areas they serve and how much of their system that would have to be rebuilt and repaired. 

The crews from Stearns Electric that were scheduled to come home soon, have now been sent to Florida to aid in restoring power to the residents of that state, who were also still reeling from Hurricane Helene.  

The crews from Minnesota and other states that have been dispatched to the hardest hit areas are considered heroes by the people there, and we should also consider them that way too. Our roughest weather period is still ahead of us, don’t forget the folks who will be heading out into the cold to keep us warm.