TEXAS - With Hurricane Ian already causing catastrophic damage in Florida, Texas has mobilized with dozens of organizations lending a helping hand as the natural disaster makes landfall.
“We actually had to turn people down, that’s how much our employees wanted to help other utility companies and people without power,” Richards said.
A retired military member, Austin Energy Vice President of Field Operations, Elton Richards, knows what it means to answer the call.
“Even though this a far ways for our crews we felt given the magnitude it was the right thing to support it,” Richards said.
On Wednesday morning, the utility company dispatched 18 employees to Jacksonville for an assignment as difficult as any.
“That’s what our crews are prepared to do, reset poles, re-string wires and help bring services back to individual customers with the primary focus being safety for those areas,” Richards said.
A true sign of strength in numbers, CPS Energy teams out of San Antonio also joined the cause in the early hours, heading East to help with power-related issues.
Up North in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, John Hall and the Texas Baptist Men are among the disaster relief organizations hard at work.
“We have 101 pieces of equipment across the state and we’re talking a volunteer base of 5,000-8,000 people who are ready to go at the drop of a hat,” Hall said.
No stranger to hurricanes themselves, this humanitarian group represents a large contingent of Texas response teams that have left or are awaiting the call to lend a helping hand.
“We’re monitoring all these things on the ground through conversations with partners,” Hall said. “We are ready to respond as quickly as possible to meet needs during this difficult time.”