Not only did the State of Missouri step in and offer assistance to Florida during the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the city of Poplar Bluff and Ozark Border Electric Cooperative did the same.
Municipal Utilities linemen Mike Ketcherside, Shane Bridgewater, Kenny Barks and Terry Hicks departed Poplar Bluff Sept. 7 for Atlanta, Ga. to ride out the storm until heading for Altamonte Springs, Fla., the next morning.
The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) set a staging area in Altamonte to brief visiting crews on their policies, framing poles, system outages and safety.
"The biggest danger going into someone else's area is the unknown and not knowing their system," Ketcherside said.
After the briefing, the four linemen headed to Orlando, Fla., to assist with restoring power, setting new poles, picking up downed wires and cutting trees off powerlines.
"Our work days began at 5 a.m. and went until 9 p.m.," Barks said.
Around 2,000 linemen from nearly 20 states joined the four men from Municipal Utilities to restore power to the nearly 280,000 without power.
"A lot of the local linemen were without power and they were out working to get others turned back on," Ketcherside said.
The same went for crews in housed in several hotels. Ketcherside, Bridgewater, Barks and Hicks were among the lucky who were never without power in their rooms.
The men described the biggest issue after Hurricane Irma in Orlando was the amount of downed tree limbs on powerlines.
When describing the scene after Hurricane Irma blew through the area, the men called the damage "moderate" compared to other storms such as Hurricane Katrina.
Ketcherside, Bridgewater, Barks and Hicks have each assisted after several hurricanes in the past and said Florida was "well prepared" for the storm.
When arriving to an area to assist with hurricane damage, the men explained two types of issues can be a factor; water and wind.
"Hurricane Irma came and left quick," Ketcherside said, adding the main issue was wind opposed to rain.
Bridgewater recalled the wind blowing constantly at about 70 miles per hour with gusts up to 110 miles per hour.
Sept. 17, the crew headed south to Lakeland, Fla., to provide assistance in more residential areas.
The farther south in the state, the worse the damage was according to the crew.
Ketcherside said many in the area were without power for about a week and welcomed the sight of linemen in their neighborhoods.
"We felt like superheroes," Bridgewater recalled.
Ketcherside recalled one instance where the group backed a truck into a family's yard to set three new poles and rewire to restore the power.
"It turns out the guy's wife was originally from Poplar Bluff," Ketcherside said. "She left us a note and care package once power was restored."
The hospitality spread from citizens offering appreciation and bottled water to OUC providing meals and hotel rooms.
Sixteen days later, the four men headed back to Poplar Bluff with a majority of the service area restored.
"The most gratifying thing is when you pull up and get power back on," Ketcherside said.
Ozark Border Electric also sent six linemen to help in Irma's wake.
OBEC's linemen traveled to SECO Energy in Sumterville, Fla., Sept. 12, to help restore power in the primarily residential areas. Sumterville is about 30 miles west of Orlando.
The central Florida cooperative lost power to more than 100,000 members in its service territory. About half of their area was without power.
The crew worked long hours clearing debris, repairing broken poles and fixing wire damaged by fallen trees.
According to the linemen, the heat, humidity and flood waters made their task difficult, but they prevailed.
As with the linemen from Municipal Utilities, OBEC's linemen agreed the major problem was debris that went through the lines.
"There was a lot of trees down and damage from the wind," OBEC' General Manager and CEO David Schremp said.
When the linemen headed home Sept. 19 all but a few of SECO's members had power restored.
MoDOT additionally sent 58 employees to Florida for more than a week's worth of helping clear roads in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
The members of MoDOT's Southeast District team who assisted in Florida were from the Houston maintenance facility in Texas County and left Missouri on Sept. 12. More than a week later, the employees returned to Missouri Sept. 19.
"The crews used a variety of equipment such as loaders, road tractors, backhoes and chain saws to clear debris off roads from downtown Miami through Coral Gables to Homestead in southeastern Florida," Assistant District Maintenance Engineer Stan Johnson said.
According to Maintenance Superintendent Randall Ipock, the crews enjoyed their experience.
"They were glad to be able to help those in need in Florida," he said. "They met several people and were overwhelmed with support and appreciation from both workers and the public. They would all volunteer to go back if needed."