PONTOTOC, Miss. (WTVA) -- People always prepare their homes for severe weather, but so do utility companies that provide the essential needs for survival.
"One of the best ways to prepare for a storm is to have an adequately trained workforce and a well-maintained system. And in order to do that, you need to start this process well in advance," said Chuck Howell, the general manager at Pontotoc Electric Power Association.
Howell is keen to keeping his staff prepared for any weather situation that could cause problems for customers.
"We will implement a plan to have a meeting ahead of time and decide what actions need to be taken and how we can prepare for those types of things," said Howell.
With the technology today and with the weather information that can accessed ahead of time, utility companies have also embraced technology.
"We recently, since the technology has been made available, gone to a computerized mapping system that our trucks can carry our system maps on an iPad, and this is very helpful for the lineman and other responding personnel to find where people live," said Howell.
One dispatcher gave a rundown of what happens when customers call due to outages from severe weather.
"The customer calls in. We answer the phone, and we usually look for an address and a name, and then we put it in our system, and then we log it in," said Johnny Wilder.
It's through an iPad that Howell can see where all of his crews are working at any time during severe weather.
