GULFPORT – A Mississippi Power storm team of more than 260 line crew, support personnel and contractor resources headed east Thursday morning to help Georgia Power restore service to customers affected by Hurricane Helene.

Crews departed from around the company’s service territory and will be joining the restoration effort as the major hurricane, which is expected to make landfall in the Florida Big Bend are,a begins impacting South Georgia as early as Thursday evening.

“While our service territory isn’t forecasted to see any impacts from Helene, we understand what Georgia residents are preparing for and are ready to help,” said Mississippi Power Storm Director Stephen Schruff. “Georgia crews helped our customers after Francine a couple of weeks ago, so we are happy to answer the call this time.”

Mississippi Power is a part of a mutual assistance program and will join restoration efforts whenever requested. The team has already traveled to Georgia and Texas this hurricane season to restore power to customers after storms. Earlier this month, Mississippi Power crews, with the support of line crews from Georgia, worked across Southeast Mississippi after Hurricane Francine caused impacts across the company’s service territory.

“As our storm team focuses on traveling safely and restoring service to Georgia residents, we’ll continue to meet our customers’ needs here at home,” said Schruff. “These back-to-back storms are a reminder that we’re in the busiest time of year for tropical weather. We hope our customers stay safe and knowledgeable of changing weather conditions.”

Now in its 99th year of operations, Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company produces energy for more than 192,000 customers in 23 Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power was recognized by the Edison Electric Institute with an Emergency Response Award in 2023. The company was also a recent recipient of the Community Partner Impact Award from the Center for Energy Workforce Development for its innovative and ongoing efforts to build a diverse workforce.