NOVEC’s Chris Fasenmyer, Zach Bell, Kyle Sarvis, Aaron Church and Robbie Studds left Northern Virginia Sept. 27 to help other electric coops with power restoration after Hurricane Helene. [Photo courtesy of Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative]In light of Hurricane Helene's damage in southern Virginia and North Carolina, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) sent crews to restore power.
The category 4 hurricane hit the southeastern region of the United States in late September and was the deadliest to strike the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Parts of North Carolina had access cut off due to flash floods and landslides.
These two teams — one made of five men and the other of four — helped local cooperatives restore power to the more than 1.4 million coop households in these impacted areas.
The team of five (pictured above) was first sent on Sept. 27 to southwestern Virginia, then, on Oct. 3, the crew was deployed to Lenoir, N.C. to assist Blue Ridge Energy. The four-man crew began in New Castle, Va., on Oct. 1, before being sent to assist Blue Ridge Energy to join the other crew on Oct. 2.
Blue Ridge Energy, according to a NOVEC press release, had 6,800 miles of its 8,500 miles of lines damaged in Hurricane Helene.
“We do know there are parts of our system that will take weeks to repair or rebuild. In many cases, there is no road — not even dirt — where there once was one and our poles are down mountainsides or in the river in some cases,” Renee Walker, director of public relations at Blue Ridge, said.
The cost of Hurricane Helene's damage is in the billions, according to several reports and analyses. The death toll is above 200 people as well.
