Trucks rolled out early on the morning of September 1, as 14 of Dixie Electric’s line workers, led by Safety Manager Joe Donald, headed to Magnolia Electric Power Association to restore power after Hurricane Ida struck their service area. Magnolia Electric, located in Summit, Miss., reported more than 21,000 members without power at the height of the outages, which is 65 percent of the meters they serve.
At the end of the first day of restoration, 17,362 members remained without power. The damage is described as extensive, with large trees on power lines and broken poles. Magnolia Electric requested assistance, and Dixie Electric responded by sending 14 linemen, bucket trucks, a track machine, and other support vehicles.
As of this morning, Magnolia Electric reported that 14,490 members remain without power.
Magnolia Electric is a member-owned, locally-operated rural electric cooperative serving over 32,000 meters in nine counties in southwest Mississippi.
Dixie Electric Power Association serves 40,180 accounts in a seven-county area in south Mississippi, including Jones, Wayne, Perry, Forrest, Covington, Clarke, and Jasper counties.
Safety Manager Joe Donald, Jonathan Hilum, Ben Ballcock, Lucas Laird, Ford Turner, Guy Shelton, Shelby Ivey, Jack Payne and Brian Barkley
Charles Houpt, Michael Paul King, Bobby McDonald, Ethan McLeod, Chris Pittman and Tanner Carpenter