Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 2826 HTCinc.net | Fall 2016 When Hurricane Matthew struck the Grand Strand in early October, the entire HTC repair team had to get all hands on deck. “We responded as aggressively as we could,” explains Scott Everett, Chief of Plant Operations at HTC. “We’ve had employees working around the clock, from generator crews to line-restoration crews, since the storm happened.” Scott explained that the HTC EOC (Emergency Operations Center) had been running 24 hours a day since daylight on Saturday morning, Oct. 8, to ensure that the HTC teams could repair and restore service as quickly as possible. "Plan? All you can do is prepare and react," chuckles Scott. "When everything came through that Saturday night, we had as much of the preparation done ahead of time as we could do.” While some folks were clearing branches from their lawns and cleaning up fallen roof shingles, like many other HTC plant technicians, Bryan Tyler and Chad Hayes were working diligently to get an entire community reconnected. “We were pretty lucky compared to some other parts of the state and region,” says Bryan. “In the city of Conway we’ve had a few issues, as the main aerial line got taken out by a tree.” They explain that many of the drops — the lines that feed the internet and cable services from the poles to houses — were torn down, but they were able to get those right back up and running with a temporary fix until a more permanent solution could be put in place. “Right after the storm, I worked like 12 or 13 hours straight running generators to keep services going for customers who didn’t have electricity," explains Chad. "That way, their landline phones were still working for emergencies.” Chad and Bryan, along with the entire construction and installation teams, have worked full-force during the weeks after the storm, but they point to others in the area who were also going the extra mile. “I saw neighbors helping neighbors,” says Bryan. “And I saw the National Guard helping people, too, which was great.” Chad nods his head in agreement, saying, "In times like these, it’s nice to see how everybody comes together to help everybody else.” The ability to help their neighbors, especially in times of emergency like Hurricane Matthew, is what keeps them dutifully showing up morning after morning. But that’s what the entire boys in blue crew is wired to do best — they are the unsung heroes of Horry County who keep us connected to the people and the things that matter most, and we are eternally grateful that they do! EACH DAY BRINGS A NEW CHALLENGE HTC Boys in Blue Respond Erik Herndon, Lance Roberts and Matt Johnson of HTC