PB linemen join Hurricane Delta response

Hometown utility electric line crews from Missouri communities are on their way to Louisiana, ready to perform recovery work in the wake of Hurricane Delta, according to a press release from the Missouri Public Utility Alliance.

Organized by the MPUA, lineworker crews from four Missouri cities are travelling to Louisiana, preparing to respond to power outages after the storm passes. Preparedness coordinators for the City of Alexandria issued a call to the Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA) for mutual aid assistance, and the crews departed for Louisiana this morning.

The combined response of 14 lineworkers involves crews from the Missouri cities of Harrisonville, Nixa, Palmyra and Poplar Bluff. The workers will stage in Alexandria, Louisiana, equipped with four bucket trucks, one digger/derrick truck, and other linework vehicles and machines, ready to restore power to Alexandria’s municipal utility after the storm passes.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Delta is expected to reach the southwest Louisiana coast Friday morning and move inland on Friday and Saturday.

In August and September, mutual aid crews including 24 lineworkers from six other Missouri hometown utilities assisted Alexandria’s recovery from extensive damages caused by Hurricane Laura.

The responding crews are from “public power” electric utilities, not-for-profit community-owned electric utilities that serve their individual cities, but also have agreements in place allowing staff to assist neighboring communities and states during widespread outages in other communities. Municipal utility workers in other states are also on the road to Louisiana locations to assist in hurricane recovery efforts.

The mutual aid response is coordinated through MPUA’s mutual aid network. Assisting cities are reimbursed by the municipal utilities receiving assistance.

MPUA’s mutual aid network is part of a national public power mutual aid network coordinated by the American Public Power Association, which links more than 2,000 public power and rural electric cooperatives so they can help each other in times of need.