JEA collects truck full of supplies for East Tennessee
The people of Jackson and Madison County have shown up in the first few days ready to help however needed as recovery efforts have begun in East Tennessee after massive flooding happened after the remnants of Hurricane Helene dumped large amounts of rain on the area last week.
Jackson Energy Authority's employees held their own internal water drive throughout the week, and on Saturday, they were set up at Serra Chevrolet taking donations of other supplies that would head out of town on Sunday.
"We started out collecting water on our own, and then the City came up with an expanded list of different needs - more needs than just water - they wanted everyone to use as a guide of things to put together," said Steve Bowers, the public information officer for JEA. "So we decided that since we have a truck that can carry a load of supplies over there, let's just put together a trailer full of things."
JEA had a number of volunteers set up and ready to go to help load up donations and get them sent to East Tennessee.
Bowers said one utility crew is in the area helping to restore power to the area, but that will be an arduous task that will take weeks to complete.
"We're not sure when that crew is coming back because there's a lot of work to be done," Bowers said. "There are a lot of rebuilding jobs that are needing to be done."
Bowers said power distribution agencies like JEA have formed a regional partnership so that when there is a natural disaster bringing damage like this, other crews will come in from other area to help rebuild structures and restore power while those in the area tend to other things like the day-to-day operations of their own services along with possibly even repairing damage at their own homes.
"That's why you usually hear about us sending a crew to Florida or the Carolinas or somewhere when a hurricane is coming. They've come and helped us out when a tornado or flood has done extensive damage to our infrastructure."
Since JEA gets the bulk of its electricity from what Tennessee Valley Authority produces at various dams on the Tennessee River, Bowers said he's been asked a few times if any of the results from the rain have affected JEA's operations.
"Not really because no dams were actually breached last weekend," Bowers said. "I know there was concern there might've been, but there wasn't.
"And with the water rising and each dam releasing high amounts of water for the past few days, producing electricity has actually been a little easier because of all the water coming through."
Bowers said the supply truck scheduled to leave Sunday is set to return on Monday. Any further potential efforts to bring more supplies to the area will be announced in the coming days.
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
