A lot of people in Marion County know about MDR Construction on East Baylis Chapel Road in the county. But what most do not know that the recent natural disasters that have plagued the Southeast portion of the country, MDR has crews scattered all over and assist power companies get everything on track.
Tom Porter with MDR said Thursday that it is normal for crews to be spread out. However, this year in addition to the regular work, the company has stayed busy working on helping rebuilding power lines and restoring power with other companies during the multiple disasters that have taken place.
Currently there are 301 men, representing 49 crews, working on reestablishing power in multiple states, including Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, according to MDR President Keith Baughman. With all the storms, they have had crews working as far as New Jersey and Iowa, he said.
Monday an ice storm hit Oklahoma causing substantial damage to powerlines and leaving thousands of people without power. Right now there are 126 men on 20 MDR crews assisting Oklahoma Gas & Electric restore power. There are 17 crews in Oklahoma City and three in Stillwater.
Hurricane Zeta, which left its mark late Wednesday night through early Thursday, has another 49 MDR crews helping in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, including helping Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association, an electrical cooperative that covers parts of Marion County.
Baughman said the larger energy companies try to prepare and arrange assistance ahead of the storms, but with the smaller ones it may be last minute before he gets the request. One thing is for sure, he said, all the companies big and small have his number.
Baughman said he hasn’t had much sleep in the last three months. As soon as he receives the call, he begins studying which crew will be best to send to the area needed.
With all of the natural disasters happening, Porter said that has put them behind on the work they have been working on with the installation of the broadband internet through the state in the power lines. There are still crews working on base load contracts, but with everything else happening, they have had to pull some of their crews off other projects.
One thing both Baughman and Porter both agree on is they are very proud of their workers. The employee-owned company has 400 employees, including 60 separate crews.
“The response of our crews has been very impressive,” Porter said.
