Powering Strong Communities
Disaster Response and Mutual Aid

Storm Center and Mutual Aid

 

Updates

Santee Cooper Details Steps Being Taken to Prepare for Hurricane Milton, October 8, 2024
FMEA Details Steps Being Taken to Prepare for Arrival of Hurricane Milton, October 7, 2024
Florida Municipal Electric Association Monitoring Tropical Storm Milton, October 5, 2024
ESCC Provides Update on Post-Helene Power Restoration Efforts, October 2, 2024
FMEA Details Progress Made in Power Restoration Efforts in Wake of Helene, September 29, 2024
Santee Cooper Details Damage to Transmission System from Hurricane Helene, September 27, 2024
FMEA Details Power Restoration Efforts in Wake of Hurricane Helene, September 27, 2024
Helene Makes Landfall in Florida as Category 4 Hurricane, September 27, 2024
Santee Cooper Takes Steps to Prepare for Impact of Helene, September 25, 2024
Public Power Utility Crews Deploy to Florida, Georgia in Advance of Helene’s Arrival, September 25, 2024
FMEA Details Steps Being Taken to Prepare for Arrival of Helene, September 25, 2024

Mutual aid is at the heart of what public power does. At its core, it’s about neighbors helping neighbors—even when our neighbor is a fellow utility hundreds (or thousands) of miles away. During the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, APPA is closely coordinating with our industry and government partners to ensure unity of effort before, during, and after storms as they occur. We are constantly planning for severe weather and other potential outage events and stand ready to mobilize emergency power restoration crews and materials through the national public power mutual aid network, as requested by affected entities.

What Is Mutual Aid

Mutual aid is electric utilities helping each other in times of need. The American Public Power Association, together with state and regional public power utilities and organizations, coordinates the mutual aid network for the nation’s public power utilities. Utilities that want to give and get help for power restoration after a disaster sign up for this network. When (and even before) a major disaster hits a utility’s territory and the utility knows that its own crews and equipment won’t be enough to restore power quickly, it calls for mutual aid. It provides its best estimate of how many people it needs and what type of skills they should have. The utility also specifies equipment and material needs. Other utilities in the network respond with what they can offer. The actual dispatch and movement of crews from different utilities are coordinated by utility and public power association personnel who volunteer as regional and national mutual aid coordinators. Learn more about mutual aid.

Resources

Public power utilities can find mutual aid and other restoration and recovery resources here.

Disaster Basics

Disasters, Your Community, and Family

Utility Resources

Weather Tools and Resources