PCEC Crews Deploy to Louisiana for Recovery Assistance

A crew of four Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative line-workers have been deployed to southwestern Louisiana to assist with Hurricane Laura recovery efforts. The co-op employees will be assisting with power restoration for Beauregard Electric Cooperative, which faced over 40,000 outages after the hurricane made landfall.

PCEC is assisting with power restoration of over 40,000 outages

The deployment is part of a coordinated effort through the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives to provide assistance to cooperatives who are impacted by natural disasters. Over 100 linemen from across Missouri are being sent to assist.

“Our fellow electric cooperatives, in the path of Hurricane Laura, have faced tremendous devastation with thousands of households expected to be without power for weeks,” said Dave Deihl, Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative CEO. “We’re proud of our employees, who are making the sacrifice of missing time with their friends and families to lend a hand to those in need.”

Extra COVID-19 precautions have been put in place for the trip, including the construction of a tent city designed for better social distancing. Special air filters have also been installed on HVAC equipment.

Platte-Clay last mobilized mutual aid crews in response to damage done by Hurricane Michael in Florida in 2018 and has been the recipient of mutual aid in the past as part of tornado and ice storm recovery efforts.

KPGZ News – Brian Watts contributed to this story