About 120 Evergy line workers and support staff are helping with power restoration after hurricane Helene hit the Southeast United States.

According to the energy provider, a convoy of crews left from Kansas City, Topeka, Wichita, Emporia, and other communities to make the 700-mile drive to Ashland, Ky., a mountainous area where the storm brought high winds and heavy rains, damaging trees, and electrical equipment. Evergy crews will spend up to two weeks assisting AEP Kentucky to rebuild the power grid and restore power, while 200 contractors who frequently support Evergy head to Indiana to support Duke Energy.

“Evergy is supporting the second wave of the storm,” said Ryan Mulvany, Evergy’s vice president of distribution. “The first wave hit Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. There was a lot of staging in that part of the country. As the storm moved north, we’re now backfilling resources that had already gone down to support the southeast.”

Evergy is a proud member of the Midwest Mutual Assistance Group, which enables us to call upon neighboring utilities and their contractors to help restore service after a significant event such as a severe storm. In return, we assist neighboring utilities when they are in need. In the event of catastrophic damage, utilities reach out for assistance from across the nation.

During the summer, AEP crews provided assistance as Evergy experienced severe weather in Kansas.  Mulvany said this is Evergy’s opportunity to return the favor. “When you have severe weather events, that’s when you start calling on resources throughout the country. We all answer the call. We understand that ‘I’m going to help you today, and I may need help tomorrow.’”

Evergy crews are part of the 50,000+ workers from more than 30 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada dedicated to the Helene response and restoration effort. Nearly 5 million people lost power.

Even as line crews head to help restore power after Helene, Evergy continues to prioritize customers in Kansas and Missouri by ensuring enough crews and resources are available to respond to the daily needs of Evergy customers. “Part of doing that, is sometimes we go help to make sure that our customers can get help when we have to make the call,” said Mulvany. “This is the best of what we do as an industry. We help each other and rise to the occasion when customers’ lights are out.”

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Photo via Evergy