Hurricane Relief Fund Established to Help Cooperative Employees

Co-ops are staffed by people who live in the communities they serve. At least 30 families of co-op staffers who have been extremely affected by Hurricane Laura. They’ve lost or suffered serious damage to their houses, and the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives has established a fund to assist them with their recovery and help address their long-term issues.

For now, our co-ops have been able to put those families up in hotels to help keep them safe and comfortable while their spouses go about the business of getting power back on. That’s the thing about the electric cooperative family, and it’s universal.

We’re used to hurricanes, but this is the worst storm that we’ve seen in Louisiana, and hopefully will be the worst we ever see in our lifetimes.

This is the first time we’ve had a hurricane reach Claiborne Electric Cooperative, in northern Louisiana near the Arkansas state line, as a Category 1 storm. That small co-op has seen an amazing amount of damage to its system. And, like Jeff Davis and Beauregard, they have transmission issues.

The Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives is accepting donations to assist the co-op employees who have suffered losses and major damage to their homes due to Hurricane Laura. Contact ALEC at 225-293-3450 or send donations to: ALEC Hurricane Relief Fund, care of ALEC, 10725 Airline Highway, Baton Rouge, LA 70816-4213