Natural disasters don't always wait their turn. Some arrive on the heels of the last one, carving deeper and wider paths of destruction and putting even greater demands on the IBEW workers who not only restore power but also help restore faith among suffering people that life will go on.

Early this fall, Mother Nature landed a one-two punch on Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas with hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Thousands of IBEW members in the Southeast — linemen, tree trimmers, outside construction crews and gas system workers — and hundreds more from as far as the West Coast, New England and Canada helped devastated residents take the first steps toward recovery.

Their communities had been wrecked by wicked winds and historic storm surges. Without lights, power, internet and cell service, millions of people were isolated, afraid and unable to communicate — until utility crews made their way as fast as they could.

"This is by far, and it's not even a close second, the largest natural disaster in this state's history," Atlanta Local 84 Business Manager Drew Stover said after Hurricane Helene.

As always, it was exhausting, dirty and dangerous work. But there were also joys — a crew that saved a life, gracious and giving victims and the kindness of children, like the little girl who tugged on a member's shirt and handed him a homemade thank-you card.

On pages 4-5, you'll read about moments of generosity and high spirits and brotherhood amid the perils of day-to-day life as a lineworker in the most challenging of circumstances.

"Spend some time in their shoes," International President Kenneth W. Cooper urged. "You will come away with enormous pride and admiration for your IBEW brothers and sisters."

Detroit Local 17 Safety Director Chuck Dortenzio was one of more than 500 lineworkers and tree trimmers who assisted with restoration efforts in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

"The worst storm I worked was Katrina," Dortenzio said, "and I would put this in the likes of Katrina. There were just miles and miles of wires and poles on the ground."

Dortenzio was one of about 100 lineworkers working with Georgia Power doing overhead construction work.

"It was pretty intense," he said. "There was a tremendous amount of wind damage."

Like a lot of IBEW members, Dortenzio slept in the back of a trailer with about 23 other lineworkers, getting up at 5 a.m. every day and working until about 6 in the evening.

"I've been to several storms, so I know the living conditions won't be the best, but that's to be expected," he said. "And we had some great Southern hospitality. The people there were fantastic."

Dortenzio said there was a church group that came in and cooked for them and even did laundry. Between the grateful residents and efficient restoration efforts by Georgia Power, everybody was able to do their part with no complaints.

"It was a good adventure," he said. "Through the lens of a lineman, this is kind of just another day."

Atlanta Local 84 Business Manager Drew Stover has been a journeyman lineman for 26 years and grew up in Georgia. He's seen the aftermath of some devastating tornadoes, but nothing like Hurricane Helene's aftermath.

"This is by far, and it's not even a close second, the largest natural disaster in this state's history," Stover said.

Local 84, which represents employees of Georgia Power, Southern Nuclear, two electric cooperatives and outside construction contractors, had crews stretched from Valdosta to Augusta. More than 3,000 IBEW members from approximately 60 contractors were brought in to assist.

Within two weeks, nearly the entire state had its power back working at normal levels.

"I've been to other states before working on storms, and I've never seen so many downed trees in my life," Local 84 member and journeyman lineman Joseph Feliks said. "Just everywhere you looked, there was piles of bush and debris from the cleanup effort."

Feliks said IBEW members from Illinois who work for Asplundh were invaluable at helping clear debris so he and others could get to work. There were also times where he had to get the chain saw from his truck and clear a path for himself.

"No one wants to be without power, but everyone was very patient and thankful for us being there," he said. "That was really nice. I've been to some places where people get frustrated really quick."

Feliks and fellow Local 84 members often are surrounded by nonunion contractors. But seeing IBEW members from across North America travel to Georgia and assist in the work was inspiring.

"I saw so many IBEW stickers on gear and trucks," he said. "That was really cool to see."

IBEW linemen were aided by members working in other utilities. Clerical staff had to work additional hours. Atlanta Local 1997 members, who primarily work for Southern Co. in gas utility, had to ensure that it was safe to work before their brothers and sisters replacing the lines could do so.

Brian Hall, a field specialist who works out of Southern's Cherokee County service center in northwest Georgia, headed south for Valdosta on Sept. 27.

"When we got there, there was no power for miles," Hall said. "There was no gas. All the gas stations were shut down, and that's a big deal when you need to keep the trucks running."

Hall and his colleagues had to turn to some old-fashioned methods. Service orders were taken by hand and passed on to utility workers in the field. With limited cell service, map apps were unreliable, forcing them to often use paper maps or directions from others to get to a site.

"You were relying on people who lived there to get to where you needed to be," Hall said.

The storm was so powerful that it ripped up trees that supposedly had solid root structures deep in the ground. That, in turn, either destroyed or cut gas lines.

Hall and others went from home to home, capping lines to make them safe for residents and other utility workers. He noted that tree trimmers, many of whom are IBEW members, were helpful in reporting gas problems.

Local 1997 was chartered in 2018, not 2019 as I had it. It was charted in 2019. Hall worked nonunion early in his career before joining Chattanooga, Tenn., Local 175 and then transferring his membership to Local 1997.

"The union has really come through on getting us paid right and getting us better conditions while we were out there," he said.

Blake Bibbins, another Local 1997 member and field specialist for Southern, had extra reason to be concerned when the storm went through his hometown of Augusta. His wife was 20 weeks pregnant with their first child.

She moved in with his parents for a few days while Bibbins and others went to work, capping the gas lines in homes and businesses across the city. It wasn't easy with all the fallen trees.

"We had to cut our way through the neighborhood," he said. "Sometimes you had to cut your way out to get to work.

"I had some damage to my house," he said. "But you see other houses that got destroyed by three or four pine trees. I think it will be about a year, maybe a year and a half, before Augusta gets back to normal."

Florida was hit hard by both Helene and Milton, which made for some long days for Orlando Local 222 members.

Matt Brown, who serves on the local's executive board and is a journeyman lineman, spent time in Georgia and Florida.

"Sometimes you work a storm and another rolls in," he said. "You think you're done, and it hits back-to-back. It's part of our trade and what we're used to doing."

Trust among crew members is paramount, and "that is where the IBEW comes in," he said. "Our training is the best, bar none. Not everyone has an opportunity to get training like that."

Milwaukee Local 2150 member Tim Steinert wasn't sure he wanted to go down to Florida this time to assist with hurricane restoration, but his wife and some younger members talked him into going. He's glad he listened to them, he said.

"It was a very good experience. I'm glad I went," said Steinert, who works as a safety liaison for southeast Wisconsin overhead line crews. "It made me feel like I was helping someone out."

Steinert was sent to Tampa after Hurricane Milton struck in October as part of a 26-person crew that set poles, hung wires and restored services. He and his crew worked with Tampa Electric, which had a good setup for getting the power back on as quickly and safely as possible, he said.

Steinert said the sense of camaraderie among the crews was alive and well.

"When you're in a strange area, there's a brotherhood among members. You watch out for each other," he said. "Everybody wants to go home and see their brother go home, too."

Local 2150 safety liaison Brian Smith used to volunteer as a firefighter. Like Steinert, he likes doing storm restoration because "it feels like I'm making a difference."

Smith was in Georgia, working as a crew foreman with Georgia Power. The farther east they got from Atlanta, the more damage they saw — trees on top of houses and blocking lanes on the highway — and the longer the lines got at gas stations.

"Everyone from the utilities that I talked to said they'd never seen a storm like this," Smith said.

They had spotters to make sure trucks could clear areas without hitting any wires overhead. One crew needed to use a rowboat to trim a tree that was hanging over a pond with wires. And then there were the snakes, which are known to come out after a storm.

"One crew was taking out a tree and they heard a gunshot. Then a guy came out with a dead five-foot rattlesnake in his hand," Smith said.

Like Steinert, Smith said the residents were happy to see them and grateful for the work they were doing.

"One night our boss took us to a Chinese restaurant, and a little boy came up to us and thanked us for getting their power back on. Then his dad came over and thanked us, too." Smith said. "That was nice to hear."

Hurricanes adhere to no national boundaries, and neither did Canadian members when Helene and Milton struck the southeastern U.S. in late September and early October.

Connect Atlantic Utility Services, a Halifax, Nova Scotia, Local 1928 signatory employer, had 20 crews from Atlantic Canada working on storm response. Locke's Electric, with members from Local 1928 as well as Fredericton, New Brunswick, Local 37 and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Local 1620, sent about 30 members to Florida and the Carolinas.

"Thanks to the utilities' preparedness with materials and supplies, recovery efforts have been smooth and effective," said Terry Davis, the manager on site with Locke's Electric. "The community's appreciation has been heartwarming, and our teams have had the pleasure of meeting individuals who showed their gratitude with thank-you cards and treats, reminding us of the difference we're making."

Locke's crews, which assisted with distribution restoration, reported "extraordinary coordination" in the utilities' response efforts, ensuring that resources were in place to support the communities in need. Local 1928 Treasurer Ron Jakeman was in Tampa, Fla., and similarly reported a well-organized response.

"The logistics were really well done," said Jakeman, who was stationed at the state fairgrounds. "For the amount of people, which was in the thousands, they did it well."

Jakeman, a mechanic with Nova Scotia Power, which sent 34 people to help with restoration, worked with 12 line crews assisting Tampa Electric.

"There was a lot of trust there," Jakeman said. "As a result, we were able to be incredibly productive."

Jakeman said their Canadian crew was told to be on alert for "snakes, gators and guns" but didn't encounter anything dangerous in the environs. Most of what they came across was more typical for a storm restoration.

"There were trees that looked like they were centuries old that had come down," Jakeman said. "It was like, finally, there was a storm big enough to take them out."