Hi-Line Utility Supply Co.’s 24-hour customer service received a call on Aug. 31, the Sunday of 2008’s Labor Day weekend, to meet the needs of line crews traveling to help restore power in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

Tommy Keough of City Lights Electrical Co., Inc., of Canton, Massachusetts, contacted Hi-Line at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31, as a co-worker was driving across the country toward the hurricane zone. By 10 p.m., Hi-Line had 80 pairs of Class II rubber gloves and sleeves tested, packed up and ready for pick-up by Keough’s co-worker.

"Hi-Line’s people really went out of their way for us and enabled us to do our job. I really want to thank those guys for leaving their friends and family on a holiday weekend to help out in a crisis. They really deserve some recognition," said Keough.

Indeed, the whole country came together to help Louisiana deal with Gustav. And, when the storm turned out to be less destructive than earlier feared, companies such as Motor City Electric of Detroit, MI, Henkels & McCoy of Salem, IL, and BBC Electrical Services of Crestline, KS, headed instead to Texas to deal with Ike. Many contractors, utilities, and co-ops, including these, called upon Hi-Line to quickly provide rubber goods and tools necessary to equip line trucks as their linemen joined the effort to restore Houston and Galvaston’s electrical services.