Savannah couple thrilled to have power restored
5:00 p.m. — Jackie Haynes of Savannah, Ga., has never been so excited to hear her burglar alarm blaring.
When a Mississippi Power team from Hattiesburg restored power to the Haynes home, that screeching and shining porch lights were signs that things were slowly returning to normal in the wake of Hurricane Matthew’s destruction in the area on Saturday.
“These guys are really amazing,” Jackie said. “It restores your hope that there are still people out there who help other people. They were so nice and professional. I’m impressed with the precision these guys work. It’s all fascinating to watch.”
Jackie and her husband Larry evacuated their large home in the Grove Point neighborhood on Thursday to stay with family in Rock Hill, S.C.
“One of the neighbors that didn’t evacuate sent us pictures,” Larry said. “We knew we had a lot of trees down but none of them hit the house, unlike some of our neighbors. And we knew we had a power line down.”
When they arrived home Monday afternoon, the Hattiesburg team was in their backyard getting their power restored.
“It was an unexpected surprise and unbelievable to drive up and see these guys here,” Jackie said. “People all over town are without power but these guys stayed here and fixed ours.”
There was another unexpected surprise.
Jackie worked for Morris Multimedia for 32 years as a benefits and risk administrator. One of the Morris affiliates is WXXV-TV, so business brought her to the Mississippi Gulf Coast often until she retired three years ago.
Before the Mississippi Power team left their home, the Haynes’ wanted to take a picture with David Tanner, the Hattiesburg lineman who was in the bucket hooking up the new pole in their back yard.
“David, up there in that bucket, it was fascinating to watch him work,” Jackie said. “I’m going to have to send him a Christmas card.”
Mississippi Power’s storm team of 102 workers from all three divisions continued working in the Georgetown area of Savannah, setting poles and pulling wire on a feeder line that sustained damage from broken poles and fallen trees.
About 5,000 customers were without power in this area when the team hit the ground Sunday afternoon. Four thousand customers got power back on Sunday and it is anticipated the remaining 1,000 will have it by the end of the day.
After spending the last two nights in Adel and Brunswick, Mississippi Power’s team won’t have a long drive when work is complete since tonight’s staging area is in Savannah.
9:00 a.m. — Mississippi Power’s storm team returned to work Monday morning, helping restore power in Savannah, Ga., which received major damage from Hurricane Matthew over the weekend.
The crew of 102, including 74 lineman, arrived in Savannah midday on Sunday, and after damage assessment, worked well into the night on their first jobs. They tackled broken distribution poles and fallen trees on power lines.
The team restored power to about 4,000 customers in the Georgetown area of Savannah, including service to a wastewater treatment facility that allowed residents in this area who evacuated to return home Monday.
“We made great restoration progress on Sunday,” said Mississippi Power Storm Team Leader Melvin Roland. “It was a long but productive day. We have finished two days Target Zero with no injuries or accidents, but we have to remain focused because with people returning home, there will be more traffic and more people in the area.”
The team stayed overnight at a large staging site in Brunswick, Ga., about 90 minutes south of Savannah on I-95.
The team was up early after their late night for breakfast at 7:30, a safety briefing, then the drive to Savannah to resume work.
The first wave of Mississippi crews began arriving in Savannah about 10 a.m. local time to finish any leftover jobs from Sunday and await new assignments.
“We still have to cut some trees but we expect most if not all of the customers in this area will be restored by late afternoon,” Roland said.