How CHELCO stood together to overcome the hurricane

The Emerald Coast is no stranger to powerful hurricanes. From Eloise in 1975 to Opal in 1995 and Ivan in 2004, Northwest Florida has endured its share of historic storms. On Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, Hurricane Isaias added its name to that list.

According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin around 8:30 PM as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 mph, and it brought destructive winds, damage, and widespread power outages across CHELCO’s service territory.

By the time the storm had passed, more than 71,000 of CHELCO’s approximately 76,000 meters were without power, representing more than 93% of the cooperative’s entire system. It was the largest number of meters out at one time in CHELCO’s 86-year history.

In total, Isaias caused more outages than Ivan, Dennis, Michael, and Sally combined.

Countless downed trees, more than 200 broken poles, and over 40 miles of damaged power lines stood between CHELCO and a full power restoration. But behind the scenes, an extraordinary response was underway.

Preparing long before the storm

Although Isaias arrived in October, CHELCO’s preparation began much earlier. Every year, before the official start of hurricane season, CHELCO conducts an extensive hurricane planning meeting involving representatives from all departments.

When a direct impact from Isaias became increasingly likely, CHELCO worked the plan, coordinating with fellow electric cooperatives, contractors, and other mutual aid partners to assemble the workforce necessary for large-scale restoration.

A massive restoration effort begins

Restoring power following a major hurricane is a complex undertaking. Before repairs can begin, crews must assess damage throughout the service territory, identify lines that can be safely re-energized, and coordinate restoration efforts to bring power back to as many members as quickly and safely as possible.

At the start of restoration, 16 CHELCO substations were offline due to transmission line failures. Restoring service to these substations brought power back to a significant number of members, but extensive damage to CHELCO’s distribution system, particularly in the hardest-hit areas, required nearly 1,300 total workers to restore power.

While more than half of our members had their power restored within a day or two, others faced longer outages due to the severity of the damage. Unfortunately, some of the hardest-hit areas were also among the most sparsely populated, requiring extensive repairs to restore power to relatively few members.

Much of the damage resulted from fallen trees that brought down power lines and damaged electrical equipment. While CHELCO’s ongoing right-of-way maintenance efforts have greatly strengthened system reliability, many of the trees responsible for outages fell from outside maintained rights-of-way, beyond the areas where CHELCO routinely trims and removes vegetation.

Many hands, one mission

All of CHELCO’s more than 190 employees participated in CHELCO’s Hurricane Isaias restoration effort, alongside nearly 40 Southland employees, 281 mutual aid workers from fellow cooperatives and municipalities, and 785 contractors.

Supporting this workforce required extensive coordination. Before the storm’s arrival, many mutual aid crews and contractors were already in the area with lodging arrangements in place. As the full extent of the damage became clear, CHELCO activated a base camp for the first time in its history, providing lodging, meals, laundry services and hot showers for 1,000 visiting workers, while others stayed in local hotels.
While lineworkers and tree crews restored power in the field, employees across CHELCO’s departments coordinated logistics, materials, member communications, and other essential support. The response was truly an all-hands-on-deck effort.

A week that made history

Despite the tremendous challenge, CHELCO completed restoration to all members whose homes and businesses could safely receive electricity by Wednesday, Oct. 14.

While every hurricane presents unique challenges, CHELCO’s response to Hurricane Isaias demonstrates the strength of our emergency preparedness, operational coordination, and mutual aid partnerships, as well as the resilience and determination of our people.

From more than 71,000 members without power to 99% restored in just four days, the numbers tell a remarkable story. But the people behind those numbers tell an even greater one.