In
the Wake of the Hurricanes: Letters to Henkels & McCoy
Dear Sirs:
My name is Peggy Norris and I live in Pace, Florida, where Hurricane Ivan made his presence known on September 15.
We here in Northwest Florida have been through a lot these past several weeks during the aftermath.
My son-in-law, Bill Bardin, is a twenty-five year employee of Gulf Power Company. Many of the Gulf Power employees have lost so very much, including, for some, their very homes, as is true for others in the community.
I wanted to take this time to thank those of you who left your own lives and families to come here and give us the help that we so desperately needed. You, along with your brothers from Gulf Power, helped to bring hope and a sense of what was normal back into my area, when it was so badly needed.
I cannot tell tell you how many people have approached my son-in-law from the community and spoke of what an incredible job you did to get their power back on in such a relatively short amount of time, whether you were getting the wires back up, helping to run the power plants, trimming the trees, or supporting all of these efforts in so many different ways.
What are even more special are the comments that I hear about what you did personally for people. The meals you gave (sometimes your own) to those in the hardest hit areas where you were working, the soft drinks and ice that you shared, the money you took from your own wallets to help those who lost so much, and the words of encouragement that you shared, are what impress me the most.
I also want to thank your families. Your job, as rewarding as it is, sometimes requires you to put your own personal lives on the back burner to help get communities back up and running. Your families handled this with the same strength, dedication, and commitment that you showed to us.
My heroes aren't people who are rich or famous or
well-known. My heroes are the people like you, who gave of themselves
unselfishly to make life better for others. My heroes are people of
honor and integrity, hard work and dedication, and caring and compassion
-- who inspire me to be a better person. MY heroes are you and
your families.
Sincerely,
Peggy Norris
Pace, Florida
Heidi Kenyon
5221 S. Butterfield Point
Homosassa, FL 34446
braves_bucs_fan@yahoo.com
9-14-04
Sir or Ma’am,
Hello. I am writing to tell you a great big "thank you". I am not sure
if your company is with electrical or telephone -- but I do know that
your crew was here in my town.
It took five days for us to get power. All groceries were lost due to
Hurricane Frances, but I do have my family and we are all safe.
I am not sure if you are in a tiny town, but I am. I promised myself I
would try and get the company’s name that helped us out. I retrieved
your address online.
Anyway, I must close. Take care and thank you!
God Bless!
Heidi Kenyon
(A single mom of three, left with most of a roof.)
Board of County Commissioners
Escambia County, Florida
233 Palafox Place
PO Box 1591
Pensacola, Florida 32591-1591
October 1, 2004
Dear Mr. Henkels,
On behalf of the Escambia County Board of Commissioners, all county
employees, and the citizens of Escambia County, Florida, I would like to
extend to you our heartfelt thanks for your contribution to the recovery
efforts following Hurricane Ivan on September 14, 2004. It is a great
feeling to know that a city, a state, and a nation can come together as
one when a disaster such as this strikes a community. Your work in the
restoration of electrical power to over 364,000 customers was a critical
part of the team effort it has taken to reestablish the quality of life
for the citizens of Pensicola and the surrounding areas.
Again, thank you for your assistance. Should we be able to reciprocate
in any way in the future, please don't hesitate to call.
Sincerely,
George Touart
County Commissioner
Escambia County, Florida
October 1, 2004
Dear Mr. Henkels,
I am a resident of Alabama and recently experienced Hurricane Ivan.
As I was driving to college on Tuesday, September 21, 2004, I passed two
different groups of utility trucks. One of them was on Lakeshore Drive
in Birmingham and was from Henkels & McCoy. Though my family did not
experience loss of power or downed trees, it touched my heart to see so
many people from outside our state sacrificing time at home with their
families to help those in need.
I wanted to write to you to express my appreciation to you for the work
crews from Henkels & McCoy that have helped, not just in Alabama, but
Florida and other states that have been hit by storms this fall. Please
pass on to the men and women involved, my thanks and appreciation for
their hard work. Recovery would take so much longer if companies like
yours did not come to the aid of those in need.
God Bless You,
Karen Johnson
350 Anderson Mountain Drive
Branchville, AL 35120
Shader Brothers Corporation
D/b/a Personal Mini Storage Management
Self Storage Management, Development & Syndication
6327 Edgewater Drive
Orlando, Florida 32810
407-297-3683 www.personalministorage.com
Dear Mr. Henkels:
Please find enclosed seventeen "Certificates of Appreciation", one for
your company and one for each of the men with the New Jersey crew which
helped us during the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie, Hurricane Frances,
and Hurricane Jeanne.
We cannot express how grateful and appreciative we are for the hard
work, dedication and extra effort each of your crew members extended our
company during this very difficult time here in Florida.
As Resident Managers at the facility, we extend our gratitude for every effort your crew made to do their job above reproach.
It is not often in today’s workforce that you find men
of such character and willingness to go above and beyond the call of
duty, and for this we are thankful. They are truly "A-Players".
Again, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication in doing the
job right and please accept this small token of our appreciation!
Sincerely,
Carrie Elkins, Jaime Hayes
Pine Summit Baptist Church
2920 Bellview Ave.
Pensacola, FL 32526
850-944-2888
Thank you so very much for all of the help you gave to our community during Hurricane Ivan. All of your efforts to restore our power are greatly appreciated.
You are in our prayers.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Seese
First United Methodist Church, Inverness
3896 S. Pleasant Grove Rd.
Inverness, Florida 34452-7585
Church: 352-726-2522
www.invernessfirstumc.org
Thanks so much for your help a few weeks ago in
getting our church’s power back on! Our church recognizes the sacrifices
your crews made to come and assist our power companies -- we would guess
your crews are still out working with the new damage of the past
hurricane.
God Bless.
Thanks Much!
Pastor Kip Younger
Martin County High School
2801 S. Kanner Highway
Stuart, Florida 34994
Dear Henkels & McCoy, Inc.
A great thanks is in order for your company. During both Hurricane Frances and Jeanne your company played a big part is restoring our community. Without the help of your company, our community would still be in shock. When the people from the Treasure Coast contacted you for your help, you could have said no, but instead your company hopped in their trucks and came to help. After the first hurricane our community was in shambles and had literally no place to turn to. Trees and power lines were down and there were no provisions set up for the community. As you probably know, people sat in their houses for days without power. Companies from all over were sent down to the Treasure Coast to assist with the disaster. Your company was one of the many and we greatly appreciate you. If your company did not assist in the restoration, I feel that we would have been without power and had trees/debris in our yards for a lot longer.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank you personally from the
bottom of my heart. I sat in my house for six days after Hurricane
Frances waiting for my power to be restored. I could not sleep at night
because of the humidity and bugs that were in my house. During the day I
sat outside my house in a lawn chair because it was unsafe to drive. The
lights at all the intersections were out and intersections had to be
used as four-way stops. When six o’clock rolled around it got dark in
all neighborhoods and all people could do was go in their houses and go
to sleep or play mindless games. I know this from personal experience
because that is exactly what I did every night for seven nights after
the hurricanes.
Again, I would like to thank you for the help in the restoration of the
Treasure Coast. Hopefully we will not have to come and ask for your help
again. But in case we do, I hope that you will be able to come to the
rescue again.
Sincerely,
Martin County High School Student Government
Trailer park damage
Boat-strewn beaches
Missing beach homes
Collapsed gas station canopy
Roadside rubble
Flattened homes
Grabbing a quick sandwich...
...or a ten minute rest
Flooded luxury homes...
... and more humble homes
Submerged driveways
Eerily quiet
Water everywhere
Be careful where you work!
Overnight marshalling area
Tides destroyed roadways
Our flag was still there
Crushed warehouse
Bringing back the power
No "day at the beach"
Clearing downed lines
Restoring spent batteries
All photos courtesy Rich Tipton