BRISTOL, Tenn. — Crews from utility providers across the Tennessee Valley are helping the hardest-hit communities following the onslaught of Hurricane Helene. Many of our local teams are stationed in Bristol assistant that community's electric and telecom providers.
In an update posted to social media on Friday, Huntsville Utilities shared a thank-you message they received from a Bristol family.
"Some of your guys helped get our power back on in Bristol," they quote the message. "We were going on five days no power, phone, internet, and blocked in for a bit. They got our neighbor up, even with [the] Godzilla tree down."
Photos included with the message showed a mammoth tree that had been toppled from the storm. At least one pickup truck could be seen completely crushed underneath.
"We're glad our crews were able to get them up and running again. As you can see the damage up there is extensive," Huntsville Utilities said.
Bristol Tennessee Essential Services said that all its customers had been reconnected to power as of Friday evening. Focus has now shifted to restoring telecommunications services, with their crews repairing fiber optic lines across their service area.
Tennessee Valley Helene relief efforts
Meanwhile, the Joe Wheeler EMC has been assisting the Palmetto Electric Cooperative in Ridgeland, S.C. in getting its electric grid back to full capacity, which they said was completed Friday morning. The six-person crew from Joe Wheeler assisted Palmetto in reconnecting an estimated 9,500 customers.
"The Cooperative Principle of 'Cooperation Among Cooperatives' means that we can call on one another during times of crisis," Palmetto said on social media, announcing that they will now pay it forward by sending crews to areas in need in South Carolina.
Fayetteville Public Utilities reports it was successfully able to gather 75,000 pounds of supplies including water and non-perishable food to affected communities. They have also deployed an eight-person crew to assist reconnecting customers of the Mountain Electric Cooperative, which services areas in northeast Tennessee and northwest North Carolina.