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| Katrina & The City of Hattiesburg Imagine dealing with howling winds of 110 miles per hour, a city overflowing with 20,000 evacuees from New Orleans and Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, plus the loss of the municipal water system. Such was the plight of the City of Hattiesburg in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s unwelcome visit. “As soon as the hurricane was anticipated to come here, we met in advance with Chain Electric so that we could prepare for the probable loss of power,” said Bennie Sellers, Director of Public Services and Engineering for the City of Hattiesburg. Following that meeting, Chain Electric was authorized to do whatever was necessary to assist the City in meeting the needs of its residents, visitors, and emergency personnel. In less than 24 hours, Sellers explained, Chain Electric had gotten ten generators, had them fueled and ready to run. These generators were strategically located at the Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center, the water plants, and the sewer plants. “At the height of the storm we lost our generator at Water Plant #2,” said Sellers. “But Chain Electric worked around the clock to get all of our water wells working; plus located additional generators to have at our two big sewer pumping plants,” he added. The storm shut down power to Hattiesburg about 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 29. By Wednesday of that week, Seller said all of the generators provided by Chain Electric were up and running. Working in adverse conditions is nothing new for the crews of Chain Electric. Over the years Chain professionals have restored power to numerous communities following ice storms, tropical weather systems, and other natural disasters. “As usual, Chain Electric did everything in a professional way,” stated Sellers. He explained the company estimated it would cost $200,000 to supply emergency power to the City of Hattiesburg. However, much to his delight, Chain Electric was able to provide its services for roughly half of that original estimate. “The City of Hattiesburg and I have nothing by praise for Chain Electric, their men, and their work,” exclaimed Sellers. Hattiesburg Traffic Lights The hours, days, and weeks following Hurricane Katrina were filled with shock and confusion. The loss of power and water, damaged homes and buildings, lines for gas and ice, plus an influx of more than 20,000 evacuees into Hattiesburg just added to the turmoil. Compounding the matter for law enforcement personnel was the fact that every -- EVERY -- traffic light in the City of Hattiesburg was destroyed and needed replacing! A job of that scope required outside help. For that task, Hattiesburg Public Services and Engineering Director Bennie Sellers looked to the professionals at Chain Electric. “Chain Electric had crews on the streets of Hattiesburg the morning after the storm came through,” said Sellers. “Bobby Chain kept two crews available, dedicated just to the issues with our signal lights,” he added. For Chain Electric it was more than just installing new traffic signals. The first task was to remove damaged lights which were creating safety issues to crews, recovery personnel, and motorists. “What’s impressive is that Chain Electric had every light removed, replaced, and working in less than 120-days,” explained Sellers. “What was more impressive is that they did it in a very, very efficient manner,” he added. To elaborate his statement, Sellers explained that Chain Electric documented every minute of every man on the job, and every minute of the equipment those men used. Sellers said that those two tasks made it very easy for the city to obtain reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “Federal reimbursement is an important factor for cities, “ declared Sellers. “I have nothing but praise for Chain Electric. Because of what they did we had no questions from FEMA in getting payment,” Sellers added. |
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