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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
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