Five members of DREMC’s line crew volunteered to assist with power restoration efforts in north Georgia following a severe storm that caused major damage and, according to one source, left more than 350,000 residents without power across the state. DREMC crews assisted Amicalola Electric Membership Corporation in Jasper, GA, where half of its membership was without power at the height of the outages.

Some 120 poles across the AEMC system were broken or damaged as fierce straight-line winds, heavy rain, and two confirmed tornadoes left a path of destruction across their 1,100 square miles of service area.

DREMC linemen Joel Doak, Matthew Peterson, Stephen McEwen, Tyler Lowery, and Chad Mills assisted AEMC with rebuilding its system for several days and returned home on July 26.

We are thankful for the crew’s safety and dedication while working in those challenging and dangerous conditions, and we appreciate their families’ support while they were away.

It’s this type of commitment to serving others and assisting our neighbors when there’s a need that is a true testament to the success of the mutual-aid agreement among the electric cooperatives.

The storm damage photos are courtesy
of Amicalola Electric Membership Corporation. 

From left are DREMC linemen Joel Doak, Matthew Peterson, Stephen McEwen, Tyler Lowery, and Chad Mills.