Baldwin EMC will be sending up to 35 employees to assist Wiregrass Electric Cooperative (WEC) in power restoration efforts following the landfall of Hurricane Michael. The crews will depart from the co-op’s Summerdale headquarters at 5 a.m. on Thursday, October 11, and will include employees from the right of way, engineering and warehouse departments, in addition to linemen and transportation employees.

Baldwin EMC began preparing for departure following a request Tuesday afternoon from WEC in Hartford, Ala. With the storm predicted to make landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, the crews have packed food, water and other necessary items to help sustain them.

“We had crews volunteering to assist our sister co-ops before a request was even made,” says Baldwin EMC CEO Karen Moore. “As everyone who lives in our region knows, with hurricanes it’s never a matter of ‘if’ but of ‘when.’ We are always glad for the opportunity to send crews and share our resources with other cooperatives in need of assistance, and we’re grateful to be a part of a community of mutual aid.”

WEC provides electric service to approximately 23,000 electric accounts in Houston and Geneva Counties as well as parts of Dale, Coffee and Covington Counties in southeast Alabama. The cooperative’s headquarters are in Hartford, with three additional district offices in Dothan, Ashford and Samson.

Baldwin EMC is part of a nationwide network of electric cooperatives that assist each other in times of natural disasters. Baldwin EMC has provided assistance numerous times to other cooperatives across the southeast following hurricanes, tornadoes and ice storms.