Emergency Management Agency directors visit Ops Center

Leaders from Power Delivery and the Divisions met with Emergency Management Agency directors from across the company’s service territory at the Operations Center on Tuesday. The group discussed plans for the upcoming hurricane season and shared best practices to keep the lines of communication open.

This is the third straight year that a group of EMA directors has visited the Ops Center. However, for several of Tuesday’s guests, it was their first visit to the facility.

“When we have a severe weather event, whether it’s a hurricane, tornado or ice storm, we are in constant contact with these directors and their teams,” Northern Division Manager Michael Harvey said. “It’s critical that we have an understanding of each other’s processes so when there’s an emergency or natural disaster, we can quickly and safely respond as needed.”

While the focus of the meeting was the start of hurricane season on June 1, the group also reflected on the recent spate of severe weather that’s impacted south Mississippi this spring.

“We’ve responded to severe weather damage to our system multiple times in March and April,” Distribution General Manager Melvin Roland said. “Meetings like today’s only help strengthen the relationships we already have with our EMA partners.”

Lauderdale County EMA Director Odie Barnett has participated in this meeting each of the last three years.

“Being able to put a face and a name together and be able to sit together and talk about what worked and what did not work, is great. It just makes it, overall, safer for everyone else for the next storm we might have,” said Barnett.

Now in its 97th year of operations, Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and affordable energy for nearly 191,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power recently was a recipient of the Community Partner Impact Award from the Center for Energy Workforce Development for its innovative and ongoing efforts to build a diverse workforce. With nearly 160 megawatts of approved solar energy capacity, Mississippi Power is the largest partner in providing renewable energy in the state of Mississippi. Visit our websites at mississippipower.com and mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

###