(Des Moines, Iowa) Forty-six Linemen from Iowa electric cooperatives are on the way to Georgia. They'll help restore power outages caused by Hurricane Irma in the southeast part of the state.
The Iowa crews may be working in Georgia for two weeks or longer.John Dvorak is director of safety and loss control for the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives. “These linemen are happy to go out and help those in need, but we also need to make sure we bring them back safely to their families when power is restored. Working with electricity is very dangerous, and there is an extra element of danger when you’re restoring power following a severe storm like Hurricane Irma,” remarked Dvorak.
The following Iowa electric cooperatives sent crews and equipment to assist their fellow cooperative in Georgia: Access Energy (Mt. Pleasant, IA), Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative (Postville, IA), Chariton Valley Electric Cooperative (Albia, IA), Clarke Electric Cooperative (Osceola, IA), Consumers Energy (Marshalltown, IA), East-Central Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative (Urbana, IA), Eastern Iowa Light & Power Cooperative (Wilton, IA), Farmers Electric Cooperative (Greenfield, IA), Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives (Urbandale, IA), Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative ( Estherville, IA), Linn County Rural Electric Cooperative (Marion, IA), Midland Power Cooperative (Jefferson, IA), Prairie Energy Cooperative (Clarion, IA), Southern Iowa Electric Cooperative (Bloomfield, IA), and T.I.P. Rural Electric Cooperative (Brooklyn, IA).