Boone Electric Cooperative sends second crew to help with Hurricane Ida damage

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone Electric Cooperative will send a second ten-person crew to Louisiana Friday to help restore power in neighborhoods. The first crew is expected to arrive in Columbia Sunday afternoon.

Crews will work 16-hour shifts for 10 consecutive days to try and restore power to homes. Meredith Hoenes, Boone Electric Cooperative Communications Specialist, says the amazing thing is that if the situation were reversed, DEMCO Electric Cooperative would return the favor.

"They will totally pay it forward in the future if they are ever asked to do so." Said Hoenes.

Boone Electric Cooperative says they are ready to send a third crew if needed. They also say this round of repairs will take longer as they try to get crews back as quickly as possible.

Hoenes said all the team volunteered to help their friends in need. She said they enjoy the idea of knowing they could help.

"When you work for a company where that kind of volunteer mentality helping co-ops, it's a principle for the cooperatives, and it's just impressive to watch them," said Hoenes.

According to the DEMCO Power Outage Map, a little over 21,000 people are still without power. Last week, that number was 85,000.