Experts warned us that Hurricane Ivan was coming as a Category 4 storm with 130-mph plus winds. When it hit on September 16, it was classified as a strong Category 3 storm. Still, nobody imagined the level of damage it would cause in northwest Florida.

Most of us on the storm team spent that night in Gulf Power's old corporate office, one of the strongest buildings in the city. When windows in the building began to blow out, in spite of being protected by storm shutters, we knew this was a storm like few of us had ever experienced.

We had warned our customers before the storm arrived that a Category 3 or 4 storm would mean power could be out for at least three weeks. When we woke up the morning after and saw the destruction outside, we thought three weeks might not be enough time to complete the restoration effort.

In the Dark

Not a single lightbulb was burning in our western two-county service area surrounding Pensacola, Florida, which took the brunt of the storm. Our largest generating plant had been damaged and knocked off line. The entire transmission system in the west had been lost, which divided our system and left us with no east-to-west tie. Our eastern service area, which avoided a direct hit from the storm, was plagued with numerous tornadoes. Our transmission and distribution system had sustained tremendous damage. Of 405,000 Gulf Power customers, 364,969 were out of service — 90%. It was like a war zone.

Years of dealing with storms have left Gulf Power with an excellent plan and a well-trained staff. But Ivan's wrath resulted in challenges that went beyond just restoring the power.

Pensacola is located on the Gulf of Mexico. Parts of the Interstate 10 bridge going over Escambia Bay were washed away. Traffic was closed at the Alabama border. Other main bridges and roads were closed, virtually sealing off the area. The bridges to Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, a barrier island, were damaged and impassible. Driving through the city was impossible. Winds ripped the roofs off many hotels, restaurants and homes. Unexpected storm surge came well up into the bays and bayous, flooding homes. More than a dozen residents died.

Adding to the challenge was the fact that recent damage in central Florida caused by Hurricanes Charley and Frances had sapped much of the manpower and supplies.

Almost all 1400 Gulf Power employees were ready to go to work, and we had another 4000 utility workers, tree trimmers and contractors coming in to help us restore power. The cavalry was coming. Now all we had to do was figure out how to house and feed them.

We had made prior arrangements with area hotels for housing crews that would be coming in to assist. But with communications out, we could not confirm how much lodging was still available after the storm. That first day we battled the transportation hurdles and literally went door to door to assess which hotels were capable of housing people. As the early reports came in, the problem of lodging became more and more grave. We were overwhelmed. Lodging coordinators looked for shelters at schools and churches that were not already filled with those residents displaced by the storm. However, many of those buildings also had been severely damaged. Red Cross, FEMA, rescue personnel and National Guard troops also needed accommodations; there just weren't enough hotel rooms available for all of the displaced families and critical service providers.

Going to Plan “B”

When we realized the severity of damage to the Pensacola infrastructure, we knew that we had to come up with a new plan. We ordered large tents and tried to identify areas where workers could be housed. Normally, we try to house the restoration crews in hotels located near their work areas, assigning crews to work in the most heavily damaged areas first. This became a challenge due to the number of bridges that were out. Instead of operations driving the logistics, we were forced to let logistics dictate operations. We had to make work assignments based on where we could initially house the crews. Each circumstance had to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine where we could locate tents and workers.

We identified three locations where we could erect “tent cities.” One was in Milton, east of Pensacola. The other two were in western Pensacola at the Fairgrounds and at Corry Field Naval Air Station. We also had two non-lodging staging areas that were used for parking trucks and feeding workers. Workers were fed at all five sites morning and evening by caterers and sent out each morning with boxed lunches.

In addition to providing line crews to assist with the actual restoration efforts, our sister companies, which were not as heavily affected by the storms, provided logistical support for building and managing the tent cities. Eventually, Georgia Power, Mississippi Power, Alabama Power and Savannah Electric came to our aid.

Tent City Erected

When the tents arrived, we quickly found that what we thought would sleep 200 would only sleep 120 to 150. Companies who sent large groups could easily bunk together, but when two or three groups were sleeping in the same tent, we tried to provide some separation. Some of the crews had been on the road for a month, so we were sensitive to the high level of fatigue and exhaustion. Sleeping arrangements were important.

More tents had to be ordered, but each one took almost a day to erect, and we could not get them on the ground fast enough. To compound the housing problem, the out-of-town crews descended upon us in a short period of time, because they were all captive in the state of Florida due to the impact of Hurricanes Frances and Charley.

For the first week, the entire logistics team worked around the clock to establish the tent cities and to coordinate the many details associated with feeding and housing thousands of people. Fatigue became a problem among our core team. No one wanted to leave or go to sleep. The need to restore power was urgent, and no one wanted to walk away. Many slept every other night for the first week. We had to set some guidelines and enforce them, even among our managers, who wanted to work instead of taking care of themselves.

After the workers got over the shock of sleeping in tents, things got better. Portable truck-mounted showers were readily available at all locations, and laundry services were provided. To lighten the mood, one location established a post office and elected a mayor and other public officials. They even brought in a barber to provide haircuts, since many of the crews had been on the road for so long. At one point, we had crews from Canada that spoke French and other workers who spoke only Spanish. To keep all workers posted on the status of the restoration effort, we began publishing a daily memo in all three languages.

I have worked many storms, but Ivan was different. We were all affected by it. Many of our coworkers, who were out trying to restore power, had lost their homes. Others had significant damage to their homes as personal belongings were washed away. Some days, the emotional part was difficult to deal with by many of the team members.

About a week into the restoration effort, just about the time we were feeling like we had things under control, we had another threat — Hurricane Jeanne — the fourth storm to hit Florida in less than two months. Initially, it appeared that our sister companies, Georgia Power and Savannah Electric, might have to return home to protect their own system. In our daily conference calls with the Southeastern Electric Exchange, it became apparent that additional resources were going to be needed in south Florida. Fortunately, we were able to bring in crews that had completed the restoration efforts at Alabama Power, so that we could release others to assist in south Florida.

Gulf Power's overall hurricane plan is excellent, and our trained team performed its jobs above and beyond the call of duty. In fact, what we predicted would take three weeks to restore was completed in two. That's incredible given the severity of the damage and the magnitude of the transportation limitations, but not surprising.

From Day 1 to Day 14, 353,000 customers were restored, more than 212 miles of wire were replaced and 3045 transformers mounted on a total of 3699 new poles. Without our fellow line crews across the country, we would still be in the dark. We have them to thank, as well as the dedicated employees of Gulf Power and our other Southern Companies, for accomplishing this task.

Christie D. Miree is power-delivery distribution manager for Gulf Power Co., a subsidiary of Southern Co. She has been in the electric utility industry for 11 years. Prior to her present position, Miree was assistant to the executive vice president of Transmission Planning and Operations at Southern Company Services. She received a BSEE degree from the University of South Alabama and an MBA from Stamford University. She is a licensed professional engineer in Alabama and serves on the Distribution Coordinating Council of the Southeastern Electric Exchange.
cdmiree@southernco.com