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Community Heroes Series
From the
March 2006 issue of Alabama Living magazine
Article
by Kay Marshall
 Hurricane
Katrina hit our area on August 29th, 2005, with such force that
many lives were changed. Katrina’s wrath was vented throughout
Alabama, from the Gulf Coast, up along the western boundary of our
great state, and across eastern Mississippi. Her blustery visit
through our area caused many problems for Tombigbee Electric Cooperative,
and affected TEC customers all across Lamar, Marion, and parts of
Fayette.
Tombigbee has certainly seen a fair share of storms since the 1940’s,
but when Katrina’s winds hit they blew as hard and fierce as
anyone could recall; and her fury was fully realized by the TEC
crews working to restore power.Of the many employees from TEC who
braved the elements to restore power to our downed customers, two
men had a night to remember long past Katrina’s ill-winds.
For experienced TEC lineman and serviceman, Charles Cole, and his
crew, Katrina’s first night had been rigorous. He and his men
where drenched with both water and fatigue at the end of their thirty-six
hour shift. He, along with fellow TEC employee, Mark Atkinson, had
been restoring power to homes in Lamar county since 3:00 AM on August
31. Like all of the workers at TEC, they all put in extended and
laborious hours during weather catastrophes, and now it was time
to head back to the cooperative’s base for a bite of supper
- albeit that supper would be eaten at eleven-thirty that night.
As with all large scale weather disasters, it not uncommon to have
medical emergencies arise due to the lack of electricity. Tombigbee’s
policy during times like this is to prioritize medical needs for
hospitals, and for home-bound individuals. Earlier that evening
co-op manager, Steve Foshee, received word that their help was needed
immediately at a home in south Lamar county. A TEC customer, with
a family member on a breathing machine, needed their power restored
quickly before a health emergency occurred. Luck was on the side
of this family in need. Foshee knew that Cole’s crew had just
repaired the feeder line near this homeowner - feeder lines must
be repaired first as they supply power to the main lines. What remained
was to get the main power line back up so that a medical emergency
for this family could be avoided - and time was of the essence.
Foshee headed over to the motel and restaurant where both TEC workers,
and out of state crews, were being housed. There he found Cole and
his crew relaxing after their exhausting thirty-six hour shift.
He knew they needed rest, but asked if they had it in them to help
this family. Despite the fact that the home was some fifty miles
away, Cole, and his entire crew volunteered - without hesitation
- to get the family back online. Arriving at the home, the TEC crewmen
soon made repair to the downed power lines, and the family gratefully
saw the crew leave for a well-deserved rest. But, as we all know,
Life sometimes has a different plan, one where Fate plays a part
or where divine intervention occurs.
In the wee hours of the morning, the sky often shifts between daylight
and dark. On September 1st, at 2:00 AM, there was no shifting light.
The sky was still dark and menacing from the memory of the hurricane,
and rain was ever-lightly falling. Riding along with Cole was Mark
Atkinson, whose regular job keeps him busy maintaining right of
ways for TEC. During storms though, everyone wears many hats. Cole,
with over thirty years of employment at TEC offered Atkinson a guiding
hand during the long-hours of repair. As they rode back toward Guin
they spotted something large and red protruding up from a small
ravine alongside the road. It was something that most people might
easily have missed, but even dog-tired, the men realized that what
they saw was part of a vehicle - and one that was obviously in trouble.
Turning around on the narrow road, they went back and cast a spotlight
from the TEC crew truck into the ravine. A red pickup was crashed
into the deep ditch, and the men were shocked to see a person attempting
to climb up the embankment, only to roll back down. They quickly
parked and headed  into
the ravine. Cole reached the vehicle first. “When I opened
the door and shined the light around the pickup, I saw a young man
covered completely in blood. It was frightening to see a person
in that condition,” Cole said. Seventeen year-old Joseph Sandlin,
of Sulligent, had been on his way home from work when the accident
occurred at a little past midnight. “I was heading home after
work, and had some trouble with the headlights on my truck,”
Sandlin related. “That’s when a deer ran in front of me,”
he said. Sandlin’s injuries included a broken wrist, broken
arm, a cracked knee-cap, and a finger that was broken in two places.
For over two hours Sandlin tried to reach the top of the ravine,
hoping that someone would see him and stop to help. But each time
he tried, he would roll back down the incline in pain. By two that
morning, Sandlin was in critical need, as the temperature on this
early morning was damp and cool.
The men from Tombigbee were a welcome sight to the teenager. “He
told us that he was cold, and that he couldn’t breath. So I
ran back to the truck for a heavy jacket, and kept him alert while
Charles called for help,” said Atkinson. “Charles knew
the boys uncle, and phoned him after first phoning the police,”
Atkinson said. “As it turned out, Sandlin lived a quarter mile
from where the accident occurred,” Atkinson said.When Cole
returned to the young man he informed him that he had phoned for
help, and that his parents would soon be there as well. “I
felt very much relieved that someone had finally found me,”
said Sandlin. “I wasn’t too much worried anymore once
they got there, and I knew help was on the way.”Sandlin was
eventually sent to a Birmingham hospital, where he was released
eight days later, and he is now fully recovered from his ordeal.
“I am so grateful to those men for stopping to help me that
night,” he said.
Tec employees, like Cole and Atkinson, have the same goals each
and every work day... that goal is to help people. Most often that
help comes in the usual way... as lineman, crewman, or through right
of way maintenance. But sometimes it involves a wider realm, that
reaches beyond the normal boundaries of TEC customer-owner care.
It involves being willing to go the distance for a customer in need,
or to take the time to stop and help a neighbor. We are happy to
be a cooperative of helpful people whose primary purpose each and
every day is to serve TEC with cooperative ethics that go beyond
the expected.
Kay
Marshall is the Internet Projects Coordinator and Editor for TEC
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