In early August, Greenville Utilities Electric crews joined 170 other crews from Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee in a joint effort to restore electricity to customers in Knoxville, Tennessee, following system-wide damage from a tornado. 

On August 7th, an EF-2 tornado touched down in Knox County, causing damage that the Knoxville Utility Board said it had not experienced in over a decade. Maximum wind gusts in the tornado reached approximately 130 mph. While the tornado was reported to have traveled almost four miles, most of the damage associated with the storm was attributed to 60-80 mph straight line winds. Within the first day of restoration efforts, the Knoxville Utility Board reported that the number of outages dropped from 60,000 to only 5,000, but the damage was widespread, and they needed outside assistance. 

As a community-owned utility, GUC is part of a network of municipal systems that have mutual aid agreements designed to help during urgent situations such as this.  

Our crews got the call for help the morning of August 8th and hit the road a few hours later with 14 employees, four bucket trucks, two line trucks, two pickup trucks, and two pole trailers. When they arrived, many distribution and service lines were still down. They spent two days helping restore service to Knoxville residents. In many instances, they had to climb poles due to the hilly terrain. Our crews returned home on August 11th. 

Electric employees who assisted with this mutual aid trip include Shawn Adams, Ridge Bailey, Matt Board, Jordan Bradshaw, Matthew Craft, Derek Elks, Hunter Forrest, James Forrest, Carter Gaskins, Cole Hartley, Chris Hudson, Casey Jones, Matt McLawhorn, and Billy Owens. Thank you to these crews for also sharing photos of their restoration work.