December 5, 2024 MYR Group’s Largest Storm Response Ever Supports States Affected by Hurricanes Helene & Milton
Latest hurricanes highlight importance of dedicated lineworkers during busy storm season
Natalie Adams hops in her car and carefully picks her way through the neighborhood.
Downed trees are everywhere, many encroaching onto the street, making the drive slow and tedious.
But Adams isn’t out for a Sunday drive. This is a trip born out of pure necessity – she needs to charge her phone and driving to somewhere with electricity is the only way. “Otherwise, I’m totally cut off,” the Sarasota, Fla. resident of 42 years says, remarkably upbeat for somebody whose life was flipped upside down after Hurricane Milton tore across the state.
Sandy Mullins, 80, has the benefit of a generator her son brought to her house, but it provides just enough power to run a small fan, forcing her to try and sleep in nearly 90-degree temperatures.
But both are heartened by what else they see around them because it gives them a sliver of hope. Optimism that a sense of normalcy is just around the corner.
“It’s not easy for us,” Mullins said. “But I try not to complain because you guys are doing a heck of a good job.”
MYR Group provided its largest storm response to date for Hurricane Milton with 373 lineworkers, mechanics, safety specialists, and other support staff at the peak of the effort after the Category 3 hurricane made landfall on Oct. 9, 2024.
Lineworkers from MYR Group subsidiaries L.E. Myers, Sturgeon Electric, Harlan Electric, Sturgeon Electric California, and Great Southwestern Construction (Great Southwestern) traveled to Florida from all over the United States, and as far as Portland, Ore., a 3,107-mile trek from one corner of the country to the other in Sarasota, a town roughly an hour south of Tampa.
“When it comes to storm response, I’m just extremely proud of all our employees’ willingness to drop everything in their personal lives to go assist others,” said Brian Stern, MYR Group senior vice president and chief operating officer for transmission and distribution, “all working together as one team to support individuals and parts of the country they’ve never been, never met.”
Milton was the third hurricane to hit Florida so far this year and brought with it 120 MPH winds, massive flooding, and more than three million homes losing power. A lasting image from the hurricane will undoubtedly be Tampa’s Major League Baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays, having the roof of its domed stadium torn to shreds and out of use until at least 2026.
Two Hurricanes in Two Weeks
As if Hurricane Milton wasn’t bad enough on its own, it came less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, 2024, and ripped its way through Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas, covering 500 miles. Nearly 6 million people lost power across 10 states as a result.
MYR Group lineworkers responded to both hurricanes, working tirelessly to provide power to affected communicates, essentially without a break between the storms.
Just as crews were released from the Hurricane Helene response and made it home, the call came for Milton. So, roughly 12 to 24 hours later, the crews dispatched out to Florida – a two-day haul back in trucks for Great Southwestern crews in Texas and a four-day trip for Sturgeon Electric crews called in from Oregon and California.
That means sleeping in the truck and arriving as soon as possible to get to work returning power to affected communities. Lineworkers will then work 16-hour days, sleep in their trucks or camps without power, and eat whatever they can get.
No hotels, no fuel, no power. The conditions after a hurricane are the same for everyone, giving lineworkers an intimate sense of just what the residents of the area are feeling. That’s not to mention spending weeks out on the road away from their own family and the concerns of everyday life back home.
“It’s a big ask, and for them to embrace that disruption in their own lives, it’s awe-inspiring,” L.E. Myers Regional Vice President Danny Gessman said. “They’re tireless and they still do it every time. They sacrifice a lot in one of these storms and it makes us proud to have that type of employee that’s willing to do it time and time again. It’s a special kind of person.”
Simple things like taking a hot shower, cooking a meal for their families, and yes, charging a phone or climate control is uplifting beyond measure.
From Florida to Georgia and the Carolinas to Virginia, MYR Group lineworkers committed themselves to making a positive difference in the lives of strangers.
“That’s what being a lineworker is. There’s not a better profession in the U.S. than being a lineworker,” Great Southwestern Regional Manager Ryan Little said. “We’re the responders that go out, when people are having the worst time of their life, and give them a sense of hope by turning their power back on.”
One Team Working Towards One Purpose
Coordinating this effort, especially when two storms strike back to back, requires significant planning and communication. L.E. Myers Senior Operations Manager RJ Richards is the point man for storm response efforts from his home office in north central Florida.
Equipment and resources are specifically stored for storm response and dedicated calls are had to make sure all MYR Group subsidiaries are prepared to respond quickly when called upon. During the storms, a coordination call is held every day at 11 a.m. and the leadership teams for all subsidiaries work in unison to tackle the challenges in front of them.
“It really sets us up to share resources,” Richards said. “If one crew gets in an area where they’re a little lacking, another crew can help complement and push through and get it done.”
By pooling resources and experience, and working together as a single, coordinated effort, no one subsidiary has to feel the brunt of the job at hand and can safely perform the work efficiently for the benefit of all.
“We’re a small group, but we’re part of a much larger emergency response team,” said Harlan Electric general foreman Bill Bailey, who traveled 1,300 miles from Michigan with a crew of 16 lineworkers. “Being part of MYR Group, it’s really nice on storms like this because we have resources that we can use from our sister companies that are in the area. So, it’s nice having the ability to have help if we need it.”
MYR Group’s storm response efforts happen year-round, ranging from hurricanes to ice storms and everything in between. Crews from L.E. Myers and Great Southwestern were called into Hurricane Beryl, which hit Houston as a Category 1 hurricane on July 8, knocking out power for nearly three million people.
Little said his transmission and distribution crews in Texas will respond to about 80 to 100 smaller storms throughout the state alone. A more proactive approach to storm response industry-wide and mutual assistance programs allows lineworkers around the country to better serve their communities.
“It’s fulfilling for us as a company to be able to provide our services when utilities need it most,” Gessman said.
Simple Acts of Kindness
Robert Mitchell and his crew slept by their trucks each night while responding to Hurricane Milton.
It didn’t bother them. They could see the community was hurting and a little discomfort was a small price to pay for the difference they could make in the lives of so many.
Mitchell, a general foreman from Sturgeon Electric’s Salt Lake City district, didn’t stop restoring power either. He connected with the community, holding hands in prayer and other simple acts of kindness that resonated more than he even knew.
Sarasota resident Jana Martin was one of the people whose heart Mitchell touched, calling to leave a message in hopes somebody would understand how something so small left an unforgettable impression.
“I want to thank you, Sturgeon Electric. I want to thank you for sending us help,” Martin said in her voicemail. “You’ve got some good people working for you.”
The appreciation in these dire times of need wasn’t, however, one-sided.
Noticing that Mitchell and his crew of five slept by their trucks each night, another resident offered Mitchell’s crew her house to stay in because she was going to stay with her boyfriend.
“She didn’t even take any of her stuff. She just gave us a key and let us in,” Mitchell recalls fondly. “There are some awesome people down here.”
There’s no denying the hardships inherent with natural disasters. It will likely take months or even years before affected communities return to the way they were.
MYR Group lineworkers complete their work safely and quickly because they experience life right alongside residents during these difficult times. And when they leave, it’s likely not long before their services are needed elsewhere, sometimes even before they have time to settle back in at home.
Yet their dedication and selflessness linger in the hearts and minds of others far longer than the time they spent doing their part. “There’s nothing more rewarding than to go and help someone when they’re in need,” Little reflects. “And that makes every bit of it worthwhile.”