Dear Haywood EMC members,

As the rains began to fall on Tuesday, September 24, who would have thought we would be dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Helene by the weeks end.  So many throughout our communities have faced and continue to face challenges due to the effects of Hurricane Helene and I’d like to provide an update on the progress Haywood EMC is making to restore power to all members.

First off, I’d like to assure each member who is still without power that our crews are working to ensure your power is restored as quickly and safely as possible. At Haywood EMC, we are owned by those we serve, and every member is a priority to our employees. Our linemen remain determined to finish the work of rebuilding and repairing all that has been damaged during this storm.

Haywood EMC has restored nearly 90% of the 26,000 members who have faced outages over the past week. This leaves 2,800 member-owners currently without power. As of this morning, we have restored all major circuits and are working on individual taps to restore all power. 

Little by little, these outage numbers will continue to come down. Our crews and outside help are all working to reach and repair each tap and restore all remaining outages as quickly and safely as possible. 

We are hopeful to restore power to accessible areas by the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 9th. This is dependent on the amount and severity of damage we find at each location. Crews will continue work to restore power to those we cannot reach as bridges and roadways are made passable.

Hurricane Helene was a historic storm, causing devastation far beyond anything I have seen in my 31 years with electric cooperatives across North Carolina. Even the 3 ½ years I spent on the Outer Banks of North Carolina I never experienced hurricane with this much destruction. The challenges that crews are facing in the field are unfathomable, from widespread flooding and landslides to rebuilding electric infrastructure that has been damaged or destroyed by the power of wind and water. Crews are giving it their all to restore power across our 8-county service territory. In many cases, power lines have been completely washed away, and crews are building from the ground up.

Thankfully, we have not been alone in this battle. Haywood EMC has help from outside cooperative crews that are joining us from several areas of North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky to restore power. These crews are actively working across our entire service area, currently working each tap that is without power.

As I ride throughout the cooperative’s service territory and witness all the destruction, my thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones, lost property, and experienced unbelievable hardships and heartbreak in the wake of this terrible storm.  Hurricane Helene will be a milestone in the Southeastern United States, but will be an even larger milestone in the history of Western North Carolina and not soon forgotten.

Please be patient as we move to complete the restoration of service in all areas of our service territory.  Our crews have been going at it constantly since the afternoon of September 27 when the rains let up enough for us to get out and evaluate or damage.  Just because you may not see a crew at your home does not mean that work is not continuing to restore power to all members.  We have a dedicated work force with one goal of restoring every member’s power as quickly and safely as possible.

Tom Batchelor
CEO/Executive Vice President
Haywood EMC