Just before dawn, in a Louisiana hotel lobby, James Garland laced up his boots and joined Southern California Edison crews heading out to repair damage left by Winter Storm Fern.

By sunrise, Garland and the rest of the crew were warming truck engines and reviewing a plan to restore power to a rural circuit outside Shreveport.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Garland, an SCE lineman responding to his second out-of-state mutual assistance call.

In 2024 Garland and SCE crews helped the Public Service Company of New Mexico rebuild equipment and restore power after a destructive wildfire aswept through the region.

“When we get the call to help people and get their power back on, we answer.”

SCE received a request for mutual assistance from 13 utilities in the Southeastern Electric Exchange, seeking help with restoring power in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern. Garland joined 93 other SCE employees and 74 contract workers supporting restoration — part of a national response involving more than 65,000 mutual assistance workers from at least 44 states. What crews found on their first day of work proved worse than initial briefings had suggested.

“We were prepared to see a few poles down, some broken crossarms and wire on the ground,” Garland said after a 16-hour shift. “But it was quadruple the damage across a bigger area. Throughout the day, the melting snow revealed miles of downed wire, insulators broken and transformers down. It’s literally a disaster.”

Louisiana’s rugged terrain and temperatures intensified the challenge. Melting snow turned to slush and heavy red clay clung to boots, making every step a struggle. Thorn bushes snagged clothing as crews crossed wooded properties to reach damaged equipment. Some poles were accessible by a bucket truck, but most required crews to physically climb them.

“It’s nothing like home, where it’s more urban or suburban, we can access most poles from the bucket truck and we know our way around well,” Garland said. “Here, you’re threading through dense brush and mud. It’s really a maze.”

As crews progressed deeper into the damage zone, they focused on keeping each other safe. Garland’s team spent hours of their first day disconnecting backfeed — when residential generators unintentionally send electricity back through damaged lines that crews are handling — before starting repairs. Slick roads and falling tree limbs also kept crews on high alert.

“The saying in our trade is to ‘be your brother’s keeper,’” he said. “We’re constantly scanning for hazards, so we can all go home to our families when this is over.”

Despite tough conditions, progress was swift. By the end of the second day, SCE and partner crews restored 86 spans of conductor and replaced or repaired 30 power poles, a dozen pole tops, five transformers and three crossarms — all with no injuries sustained.

With electricity now flowing again across 3 miles of repaired lines and five days of outages ended, SCE’s crews have been demobilized and begun their 1,500‑mile journey home. Other utilities were also released, handing off remaining repairs to Louisiana-based utilities that will wrap up restoration efforts throughout the state.

“For every mutual assistance request SCE answers, our teams show up with this positive, can‑do mindset that helps get the job done,” said Travis Parks, an SCE principal manager of Transmission & Distribution, Methods & Governance. “When you see the finished outcome of the restoration efforts we do as a company, the quality, methods and safety with which we do it, it really speaks for itself.”

For Garland, it’s the small moments that stick: An 82-year-old woman thanking him and drivers clapping from their cars.

“When first packing my bags to leave my wife and kids at home, a small piece of me wonders: ‘Did I make the right decision?’” Garland said. “Then I saw the difference we made. That’s when I remember exactly why I came.”

For more information on how to prepare for specific emergencies, see these tips on storm safety preparedness.