>> "Walking the Walk" was intended to highlight the efforts of an individual. But in this instance, a group of Tri-County employees must be recognized for their sacrifice and resolve. The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi is now well documented. In Mississippi, over a half-million electric cooperative customers lost power. For thousands, there is nothing left to serve. At the height of the outage, nine of Mississippi's 25 EMCs had virtually no meters on and one had approximately 30,000 broken poles.                                

For cooperatives, helping out others in need is instinctive and a guiding principle. "I had employees volunteering before Katrina hit land," says Tri-County Vice President and COO Steve McClendon." When it was apparent that our co-op would be spared, these same employees began calling on me to send them to help in the areas that were not as fortunate."

Two days after Katrina came ashore, Tri-County crews joined the restoration efforts at Singing River Electric Power Association in Lucedale, Mississippi. These employees were Mike Hulett, Joe Jackson, Chuck Monnette, Buddy Queen, Justin Strickland and Joseph Tanner, along with Pike employees Scott Moon, Antonio Warren and Will Achi. The following week, Tri-County's Brooks Brown, Steve McClendon, Dennis Rowland and Mike Sasser joined the effort.  
                                                                                             

>> Eight new clothes washers and dryers were purchased through Operation Roundup for use by evacuees of Hurricane Katrina living at Rock Eagle. <<

"It was nothing like I've ever seen before," says Chuck Monnette, Tri-County's manager of safety and training of the devastation around 12 miles inland off the coast in Mississippi. "We saw broken poles, cross arms, tree damage and homes leveled. It was a bad situation. People couldn't get water, ice or gas." Needless to say, the members of Singing River Electric Power Association were very glad to see the crew.

According to Joseph Tanner, apprentice lineman and one of the newest Tri-County employees of the group, "The pictures and scenes on television can't capture what really happened. The damage was unbelievable. The sights and smells were something else." When asked why he volunteered to participate, Joseph replied, "I had never been away on a storm crew before. I wanted to see what it was like and to help. I would go again."

For many impacted residents of the Gulf Coast, the road to recovery will be long. But despite an electrical system where virtually all electrical infrastructure within a mile of the ocean was destroyed, power restoration is ahead of schedule. According to Monnette, "Singing River had approximately 25 percent of its consumers back on within about a week."

The media portrayal of the impact of Hurricane Katrina shows a dark side to humanity. But interwoven in the folds of this story are countless acts of humility and sacrifice. When darkness descended on the Gulf Coast, over 1,500 cooperative employees rushed to help. Thirty-six Georgia EMC's sent 340 employees. For Tri-County EMC, we are thankful for the cooperative spirit that calls men and women to the aid of others. And we are proud of the 13 Tri-County representatives willing to "Walk the Walk." (24815-01) <<