14 SC Co-op crews being sent to Louisiana to help restore power following Hurricane Laura

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Fourteen electric cooperative construction crews from six of South Carolina’s electric cooperatives are heading to Louisiana to help with power restoration in the wake of Hurricane Laura. Each of the 14 construction crews are made up of 4-5 co-op employees.

The crews are as follows:

• Horry Electric Cooperative (1 crew) leaving Thursday afternoon
• Berkeley Electric Cooperative (4 crews) leaving at 5 a.m. on Friday
• Newberry Electric Cooperative (1 crew) leaving at 6 a.m. on Friday
• Santee Electric Cooperative ( 2 crews) leaving at 7 a.m. on Friday
• Fairfield Electric Cooperative (2 crews) leaving at 5 a.m. Saturday
• Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative (4 crews) leaving at 5 a.m. Sunday

All crews from South Carolina will be traveling to Jefferson Davis Electric Cooperative in Jennings, LA. Hurricane Laura has devastated the area with the co-op reporting 100 percent of its system down.

Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm Thursday, Aug. 27 after 2 a.m. The National Weather Center says that Laura sustained maximum winds of 150 mph (241 kph) before nightfall, and forecasters said up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of rain could fall.

Forecasters issued a string of tornado warnings as the storm pushed on to land, but there were no immediate reports of damage. More than 750,000 homes and businesses were without power in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas in the storm’s wake.

Laura was the most powerful hurricane to strike Louisiana, surpassing Hurricane Katrina which made landfall as a Cat. 3 storm in 2005.

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