SUMMERDALE, Alabama — Baldwin EMC is sending a total of 13 employees to assist Clarke-Washington EMC in Jackson in power restoration efforts following the landfall of Hurricane Zeta. A Baldwin EMC warehouseman left Sunday and eight line workers departed Monday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. from the co-op’s Summerdale headquarters. Four additional line workers will leave for Jackson on Tuesday, Nov, 3.
Baldwin EMC crews completed restoration to their own service territory on Saturday, closing a three-day effort toward thousands of outages due to Hurricane Zeta. On Sunday, they began preparing for departure to Clarke-Washington, packing food, water and other necessary items to help sustain them. Along with their standard supplies, crews have also included the proper personal protective equipment to work safely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Along with the widespread destruction and outages Zeta left behind, this storm made quite a significant impact on the cooperative mutual aid program,” said Mark Ingram, vice president of corporate services and public relations. “When a storm hits an isolated area, neighboring cooperatives are usually ready and able to immediately jump in to help the affected community with the restoration process. In this case, Zeta left a mark across the entire southeast region, leaving the cooperative network to focus on taking care of their own members first. We were grateful to accept some mutual assistance toward our own efforts following Zeta last week, and now we’re in the fortunate situation to send our own crews off to help Clarke-Washington.”
Clarke-Washington EMC provides service to more than 20,000 meters in Clarke and Washington counties, and portions of Wilcox and Monroe counties in southwest Alabama.
Baldwin EMC is part of a nationwide network of electric cooperatives that assist each other in times of natural disasters. Baldwin EMC has provided assistance numerous times to other cooperatives across the southeast following hurricanes, tornadoes and ice storms.
Baldwin EMC is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 80,000 accounts in Baldwin and Monroe Counties in southwest Alabama, including Alabama’s Gulf Coast. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
