MCPA linemen join others from state to help in Florida recovery
Minnesota electric cooperatives mobilized line workers to assist crews in restoring power in parts of Florida that were being ravaged by Hurricane Irma. Fourteen line workers from six Minnesota electric cooperatives departed from Minnesota on Sunday, Sept. 10. They worked in Florida for over one week.
Minnesota cooperatives sending crews were:
Lake Region Electric Co-op, Pelican Rapids,
McLeod Co-op Power Association, Glencoe,
Meeker Cooperative, Litchfield,
Minnesota Valley Electric Co-op, Jordan,
Stearns Electric Association, Melrose, and
Todd-Wadena Electric Co-op, Wadena.
Minnesota Rural Electric Association coordinated with the Florida Electric Cooperative Association, which has 17 member electric co-ops within the state. These Minnesota crews headed to Suwannee Valley Co-op (SVEC) in Live Oak, Florida. They arrived on Tuesday, Sept. 12. SVEC maintains over 4,300 miles of electric distribution lines in northern Florida near the Georgia state line.
McLeod Co-op Power linemen Grant Miller and Brad Hundt had three long days on the road travelling to SVEC. The last day of travel from Mississippi to Live Oak, Florida, was supposed to be a seven-hour drive and it took 14 hours due to backed-up and congested highways with all of the Floridians who had evacuated trying to get home after officials began allowing them back into their communities.
McLeod’s linemen worked 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily for most of the eight days they did restoration work on SVEC’s project. One night they worked until 9:30 p.m. They said that Suwannee Valley Co-op took care of them with a breakfast each morning that included grits. They were sent off with a packed lunch in an insulated lunch bag and they had a supper waiting for them after 8 p.m. when they got back in.
For more about local linemen's efforts in Florida, see the Oct. 4 print edition of The Chronicle.
