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SAWNEE EMC-HELPING NEIGHBORS AFTER THE
STORM (Cumming, September 19, 2003)—Sawnee EMC sent storm crews to Virginia to help restore power to areas hardest hit by Hurricane Isabel. Crews pulled out at noon on Friday bound for Rappahannock EMC in Fredericksburg, Virginia. At the time of departure, 90% of Rappahannock EMC member’s, were without power. Sawnee
EMC was one of eight EMCs to send trucks to the devastated areas. EMCs in
Georgia had been contacted earlier in the week and were on standby even before
the hurricane made landfall. “It only took one phone call from Virginia to get
our crews and equipment moving in their direction,” said Chet Blackstock,
Construction Superintendent for Sawnee EMC. Winds and heavy rain are a great threat during hurricanes, blowing electric poles and structures to the ground and knocking hundreds of trees on power lines, shutting off power to many EMC consumers. The crews will follow a standard industry practice to repair and energize the lines. First, feeder and primary lines are repaired, then secondary and service lines next. This method restores power to the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time. Sawnee
EMC is a consumer-owned cooperative providing electricity and related services
to 104,000 members in Dawson, Cherokee, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, Lumpkin and
North Fulton. Collectively, Georgia’s
42 consumer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to 3.7 million
people, nearly half of Georgia’s population, across 73% of the state’s land
area. Georgia’s 42 electric membership cooperatives now serve more customers
than any other state network of EMCs in the nation. |
