Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2004
Contact: Steve Alderman, 601-360-9466

Irby Working to Supply Electrical Restoration Efforts
Hurricane Ivan Leaves Thousands Without Power

JACKSON, Miss. -- Stuart C. Irby Company has joined with power companies and utilities in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana to restore power in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. Irby is one of the nation’s leading distributors of electrical supplies to the commercial, industrial, utility, and residential sectors.

The category 3 hurricane pounded coastal businesses and residents Thursday with 130 mph winds and a powerful storm surge, knocking out electricity and downing power lines over a wide area.

Although Irby is marshaling its resources to help speed relief efforts, the company was also victim to the powerful storm. Shortly after landfall Thursday morning, Irby officials were assessing damage to their distribution centers in Mobile, Alabama; Pascagoula, Mississippi; and Pensacola, Florida.

“We’ve done this many, many times over the years,” said Dale McMurry, District Sales Manager for Mississippi. McMurry and a team of Irby officials traveled to Irby locations in the affected areas Thursday morning with a truckload of emergency supplies and generators to assist in re-opening those coastal distribution centers.

“We can always ship supplies from our other centers in other states, and will do so, but it is essential that we get these centers open and running to help supply crews in those local areas,” he said. “Supplies such as wire, transformers and parts to re-establish overhead supply lines are essential,” he said.

Eddie Moak, Vice President of Irby’s Utility Division, said the company will provide electrical supplies to various utilities across the affected areas, including Entergy, Mississippi Power, Singing River EPA, Baldwin County EPA, Gulf Power, Electric Power Association, and utility line contractors. “We will be responding 24/7 to meet the needs of our customers,” Moak said.

McMurry said power companies had already supplied for the initial impact, but he explained the importance of quickly establishing an effective system for re-supply, as crews will likely be working to restore power for many weeks. “We have to ship an extraordinary amount of material in a short amount of time,” he said.

Irby’s office headquarters in Jackson, Miss. was unaffected by the weather and was operating at full operation Thursday morning, along with other Irby locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Irby operates a total of 43 centers in all nine states. McMurry said he expects all Irby locations will be shipping supplies to affected areas.

As of Thursday morning, Ivan had left 300,000 Florida residents without power. In Alabama, 225,000 were without electricity, and Mississippi had 50,000 awaiting restoration. Louisiana also had approximately 35,000 without power. Those numbers, particularly in Alabama, were expected to rise as Ivan slowly moves through the state.

Irby is a member of the North American Association of Utility Distributors (NAAUD), which has also provided support to Irby during relief efforts, and Affiliated Distributors (AD).

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Stuart C. Irby Company was founded in 1926 and is based in Jackson, Mississippi with 650 employees in 34 locations in nine states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas). To find out more, go to www.irby.com