According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), Hurricane Helene knocked out power to an estimated 1.25 million co-op members, proving to be one of the most consequential storms in the 87-year history of electric cooperatives.

Within 36 hours of landfall, CHELCO, accompanied by Southland Utility Services, sent 25 individuals from various departments who would end up traveling along Florida’s big bend assisting Talquin Electric Cooperative (Quincy), Tri-County Electric Cooperative (Madison), and Clay Electric Cooperative (Keystone Heights).

As Hurricane Helene’s damage extended beyond the state lines, so did CHELCO’s mutual aid efforts. Over a week after the storm’s September 26 landfall, a group of line technicians traveled to Little Ocmulgee Electric Membership Cooperative in Alamo, GA.

Narrowly shy of two weeks after Helene made landfall, Hurricane Milton was barreling towards our beloved state again before making landfall near Sarasota on October 9.

The five NRECA member co-ops that sustained the most damage from Hurricane Milton reported nearly 330,000 outages initially. 65,450 of those outages were located in Wachula, Florida, home to Peace River Electric Cooperatives. CHELCO sent 24 employees to aid as damage assessors, warehouse staff and line technicians.

These employees represented CHELCO incredibly well, and we are grateful to have them back home.

Recently, we sat down with some of the staff who assisted our sister cooperatives following Hurricane Helene and Milton.

Watch the video by scanning the QR code below.