Oct. 7—One small part of the hurricane ravaged south resulting from Helene is back together thanks in part to the efforts of Indiana utility workers including a couple from Washington.
A two-man crew from Washington spent a week with another six Indiana Municipal Utility crews putting the power back on following the storm.
The Washington crew consisted of Power and Light Superintendent Randy Ennis and lineman Stefen Arney.
“Georgia called us and there were seven utilities from Indiana Municipal Utilities that responded. There was a crew of about 20 of us in Quitman, Georgia working,” said Ennis. “That is located in far southwestern Georgia, just north of Tallahassee.”
Ennis says the crews arrived before the massive storm hit, so they were able to respond quickly. The size of the storm though left the utility crews in the midst of some of the damage.
“We were staged nearby before the hurricane came in. We arrived Wednesday night. We rode the hurricane out in our hotel room and the hotel lost power fairly early. It was out for three nights. There were signs down on the trucks that we had to clear off before we could head to Quitman,” said Ennis who added that when they arrived in the town of 4,000 people it was in darkness. “When we got there their system was totally down. They had no power there at all. We were there six days and we were able to restore the power to the entire community.”
While the terrain may have been a little different, the work they did was familiar.
“A lot of what we did was set poles and put up lines. Some was troubleshooting problems,” said Ennis.
The response teams from Indiana are part of a compact among utilities that often go to other communities when they are hit with disasters, but there is more to jumping in to restore power in an area hit by a hurricane than just a gentleman’s agreement.
“A lot of it is just dedication. As linemen we want to get the power fixed and back on. It’s a challenge to go into a system like that, that is different than what we are used to,” said Ennis.
“For me a part of the reason for going there was to find out how different utilities are built and learning different ways of doing things,” said Arney. “There were a couple of hurricanes last year that we tried to go to and it didn’t work out. I was next on the list to go. I’m glad I got the chance to help out and do my part.”
The days were long and arduous, but for the crews there was a lot of comradery and satisfaction.
“A lot of the guys we work with on these storms, the only time we ever see them is when we go out on events like this. It was Scottsburg, Linton, Mishawaka, Winamac, Rensselaer, Tell City and us,” said Ennis. “As big of a mess as they had, it was good to know that the town that we started in with no power and we were able to get their power fully restored. We would have loved to have stayed and they would have kept us longer and sent us to other towns, but we all had to get back to their own utilities.”
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