My fellow members,
The latest indications on Hurricane Helene have become more consistent. The path traveling through our service territory hasn’t changed very much today. We are still expecting a landfall for Helene sometime before midnight. As of 4:00 PM, the sustained winds are predicted to be in the 130 MPH range. Currently, there are no indications that it will intensify past that.
We are very concerned with this hurricane achieving this high wind speed right before landfall. We urge our members to once again take stock of their homes and surroundings and prepare themselves for extended power outages due to this weather.
We continue in preparation at Colquitt EMC. We are fortunate to have secured the services of a significant amount of contract construction and right-of-way labor. Those crews are expected to arrive tomorrow. This hurricane event is different from those in the recent past. As of now, we do not have any mutual aid available. Mutual aid is construction and right-of-way crews from other EMCs. We do not have mutual aid lined up because Helene is projected to impact the entire state of Georgia with high winds and heavy rainfall. All EMCs across the state of Georgia anticipate needing to use their personnel. Once the storm has passed, we will reevaluate to see if we can call on those resources.
Just as a reminder, we intend to begin restoration efforts tomorrow as soon as the wind speed falls below 35 MPH so we can work safely and effectively. We ask for your continued prayers for the safety of our members and employees. We also ask for your patience as we work to restore service to all.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
President/CEO