Georgia co-op workers finishing restoration efforts in wake of Hurricane Irma
In the wake of the devastating effects from Hurricane Irma, Georgia-based electric cooperative crews have recently worked to restore more than 550,000 meters less than six days after the storm subsided.
According to Terri Statham, media relations manager for the Georgia Electric Membership Corporation, more than 4,500 lineman from Georgia and 15 additional states participated in the restoration effort.
“Crews came from as far north as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan and Wisconsin, and as far west as Texas and Oklahoma,” she said.
Among the hardest hit service areas experienced damage to as much as 90 percent of their meters, according to Statham.
“Workers have been replacing record numbers of broken power poles,” Statham said. “Pole replacements are notoriously time and labor intensive — one pole replacement can take as much as four hours.”
Jeff Diamond, a line crew foreman with the Barton County Electric Cooperative, noted the storm came a long way inland, which provided a challenge for whose working woodland restoration.
“When you’ve got that many pine trees, and when you get a lot of wind, you are going to end up with quite a bit of damage,” he said.
By Sept. 16, less than 5,600 meters were out of service, with most of the work located in more rural areas.
