Weathering the Storm, Together

Late January’s historic winter storm tested our resilience with ice storms, freezing rain, and snow spanning over 2,000 miles, causing widespread power outages, billions of dollars in damages, and the tragic loss of over 100 lives.

Unfortunately, this is not our first time facing disastrous weather, and the silver lining shows in the way our members band together to help our communities through difficult and dangerous conditions.

Twin Lakes Co-op was instrumental in standing up a disaster line for the Tennessee and Putnam County Emergency Management Agency to provide community members with information and resources.

In NCTC’s service area, significant damage meant long days of grueling work in horrific conditions to repair and restore service to their members. Our thoughts remain with them as we extend our appreciation to the field workers who toil in all weather, as well as the office staff working all hours to keep their members informed and connected.

United Communications partnered with its local electric provider to ensure its fiber network remained 100% operational throughout the storm. Many other members across our territory also maintained full operations, thanks to rigorous preparation and teams ready to act during the worst of the weather.

We’re grateful to the electric providers, other utilities, tree service companies, contractors, and first responders who worked tirelessly to support recovery efforts and restore service after this merciless storm.

As we look toward the next decade, we hope that another severe weather event won’t occur, but trends suggest otherwise. Together, we can share resources, learning, and knowledge to help each other prepare for disasters and take steps to lessen their impact.