A second round of Illinois electric cooperative crews were dispatched on Feb. 5 to aid co-ops in Mississippi following Winter Storm Fern, just days after many Illinois mutual aid workers returned home from Kentucky recovery efforts. The storm wreaked havoc on electric infrastructure in the southern part of the U.S. toward the end of January.
Crews were sent by SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association and Tri-County Electric Cooperative to Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association in Batesville, Miss.
“Thank you doesn’t even begin to describe the gratitude we have for our sister cooperatives stepping up to help rebuild our infrastructure,” the Mississippi co-op stated on Facebook.
On Feb. 6, additional crews were requested to assist Delta Electric Power Association in Greenwood, Miss. At its peak, the co-op had 21,000 members without service due to storm damage. Adams Electric Cooperative, Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative, Corn Belt Energy, Menard Electric Cooperative, Norris Electric Cooperative, Shelby Electric Cooperative, SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative and Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative were able to send crews to the co-op.
All Illinois crews that responded to requests for mutual aid returned home by Feb. 16.
