Putting labels on office equipment or packing your work space may not seem like a normal way of preparing for a hurricane, but in a situation like this, it’s certainly a smart thing to do. It’s what employees at our Operations Center have been doing this week.

Hurricane Florence is forecast to bring us a lot of wind, but also a whole lot of rain. GUC is taking extra steps of preparing to evacuate the Operations Center, just in case the call is made to do so.

While our team did a great job of pitching in and doing all we could to move after Hurricane Matthew, our Management Team wants to make sure we are better prepared for flooding after Hurricane Florence, which could be at least as bad, if not worse.

So, crews have been packing and moving equipment to various locations throughout our system to be able to use as needed, but also so that it would not have to be moved in a hurry, as was the case after Matthew. Offices are being packed and equipment labeled so that it will be easier to move quickly. We have had a group of employees scouting out locations where we could park vehicles, set up offices, secure equipment, and work on vehicles for a long period of time should it be necessary.

The decision to evacuate will not be made for at least a couple of days, once we know what the storm brings us and areas upstream of us. After we have a better idea of how Florence will impact the Tar River, we’ll know how it will impact us.

If you have any questions, please ask your supervisor.

Please check the Spotlight Newsfeed for regular updates. Also, if you have pictures of GUC employees working before, during, and after the storm that you would be willing to share with others, please email me at hawleysl@guc.com.

On behalf of the Management Team, thank you for your safe, hard work and dedication to serving our customers.