The work of Missouri’s electric cooperative linemen continues in Louisiana as they help restore power to members of Dixie Electric Membership Corporation (DEMCO), Baton Rouge. The lineworkers have been met with an abundance of Southern hospitality as they work long hours in challenging conditions to turn all the lights back on.
DEMCO’s 9,000-mile system suffered extreme damage leaving most of its 112,000 members without power after Ida hit one week ago .The swampy, difficult terrain and sweltering conditions make the restoration efforts that much more challenging.
Their work hasn’t gone unnoticed as they’ve been buoyed by locals. While Gascosage Electric Cooperative crews were working on lines southeast of Baton Rouge, drivers dropped off multiple bags of drinks for them to enjoy. Tri-County Electric Cooperative lineworkers were treated to a rib-eye lunch between changing out poles, and Black River Electric’s crew got burgers and fries from a local restaurant.
The lineworkers’ days are long and tiring with breakfast starting at 5 a.m. and dinner ending at 10:30 p.m. In between their focus is only on restoring power. DEMCO had more than 86,000 members without power when they arrived on Wednesday. As of Sunday morning that number is just above 40,000.
However, their work is far from done. As the number of outages go down, the difficulty of repairing each outage will increase.
Missouri’s 173 lineworkers are joined by hundreds of other cooperative lineworkers from Kentucky, Oklahoma and Florida as well as contractors from across the county.
Missouri’s restoration efforts in Louisiana are spearheaded by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. The Jefferson City-based association represents all 47 of Missouri’s electric cooperatives.
Missouri electric cooperatives sending help:
Barry Electric Cooperative, Cassville
Barton Electric Cooperative, Lamar
Black River Electric Cooperative, Fredericktown
Boone Electric Cooperative, Columbia
Callaway Electric Cooperative, Fulton
Central Missouri Electric Cooperative, Sedalia
Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, Tipton
Consolidated Electric Cooperative, Mexico
Crawford Electric Cooperative, Bourbon
Cuivre River Electric Cooperative, Troy
Farmers’ Electric Cooperative, Chillicothe
Gascosage Electric Cooperative, Dixon
Grundy Electric Cooperative, Trenton
Laclede Electric Cooperative, Lebanon
Lewis County Rural Electric Cooperative, Lewistown
Macon Electric Cooperative, Macon
Osage Valley Electric Cooperative, Butler
Ozark Electric Cooperative, Mt. Vernon
Ozark Border Electric Cooperative, Poplar Bluff
Pemiscot-Dunklin Electric Cooperative, Hayti
Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative, Kearney
Ralls County Electric Cooperative, New London
Sac Osage Electric Cooperative, El Dorado Springs
SEMO Electric Cooperative, Sikeston
Southwest Electric Cooperative, Bolivar
Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Linn
Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Lancaster
United Electric Cooperative, Maryville
Webster Electric Cooperative, Marshfield
West Central Electric Cooperative, Higginsville
White River Valley Electric Cooperative, Branson
Central Electric Power Cooperative, Jefferson City
Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative, Marshfield
