Co-ops respond to June’s severe storms

Multiple rounds of severe storms hammered the southern portion of Alabama in mid-June, part of a larger system that produced tornadoes, wind damage and flooding across the southern part of the U.S. and lasted for more than a week.

This series of weather events caused damage across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Approximately 33,000 co-op members in Alabama were without power at the peak of the first wave of storms.

The damage to several Alabama co-ops was extensive, with six requesting mutual aid to help with power restoration. Ten cooperatives and one municipality from Alabama sent mutual aid crews, totaling 75 linemen: Marshall-DeKalb EC, Central Alabama EC, Joe Wheeler EMC, Troy Utilities, Tallapoosa River EC, Baldwin EMC, Tombigbee EC, Arab EC, North Alabama EC, Coosa Valley EC and Sand Mountain EC.

In addition, cooperatives in Georgia and Kentucky offered to send mutual aid. Alabama was able to return the favor by sending 25 linemen from five cooperatives to assist Kentucky after another system of storms moved through that state the last week of June.