Food donations are loaded up in Texarkana.
Crews loaded up food donations in Longview, Texas
SWEPCO crews swarmed into southern Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas as Winter Storm Fern hit, setting up base camps to feed and house thousands of line and forestry workers in Texarkana, Longview, Shreveport and Natchitoches over the weekend.
Crews fixed hundreds of miles of line, restoring power along the way, bringing outages down from 70,000 across the service area at the peak of the storm to less than 2,000 by noon Thursday, most of which were in the Natchitoches service area. Crews will continue working until all power is restored across the SWEPCO service territory.
To accelerate progress, SWEPCO brought in a large force of trained lineworkers, tree crews, and specialized restoration teams from across the nation who have mobilized in the area to get power back on as quickly and safely as possible. Crews from Longview and Shreveport deployed to the Natchitoches service territory Tuesday and Wednesday..
As power was restored and efforts shifted to newly affected areas, crews closed down the northern base camps that had been set up to support areas hit in the first wave of Winter Storm Fern, and crews and resources concentrated in the Natchitoches area, which was hit hardest in the later, second wave of the storm.
SWEPCO’s External Affairs team worked closely with local leaders on warming centers during the storm as well as food donations as storm response wound down. In Texarkana on Tuesday, SWEPCO was proud to offer hot meals to local fire, police and other first responders as most of the crews and contractors moved south to communities that needed additional restoration support.
“We also partnered with Randy Sams Outreach Shelter and Mission Texarkana to make use of excess food that otherwise would have been wasted,” said Lisa Thompson, SWEPCO’s external affairs manager for the Texarkana District. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support these organizations that take care of community members experiencing homelessness year-round.”
The Randy Sams mission received trays of hot food from the base camp Tuesday night. SWEPCO delivered five pallets of food, including milk and juice cartons and boxed lunches to the Randy Sams Outreach Shelter Wednesday.
In Longview, Texas, an additional seven pallets of food were donated Wednesday from the closing base camp there to Newgate Mission.
“I am deeply thankful for our partnership with the Newgate Mission and for the incredible work they do every day to address hunger in our community,” said Mark Robinson, external affairs manager for the Longview District. “Seeing the warmth and genuine gratitude from those who benefited from SWEPCO’s donation was truly moving, It served as a personal reminder to me that when a company leads with purpose and compassion, it can make a meaningful difference in the lives of the people it serves and strengthen the communities we call home.”