As devastating flash floods swept through Texas Hill Country over the July Fourth weekend, electric cooperatives in Central Texas weathered the storm with minimal infrastructure damage while stepping up to support their communities.

Bandera Electric Cooperative, which serves over 29,000 members, reported outages affecting around 800 accounts. Crews worked non-stop, restoring nearly all power by Sunday.

"For us, this has been more of an emotional community impact rather than an impact to electric or building assets," said Bill Hetherington, CEO of Bandera Electric. "Many of our employees had friends and family directly impacted. Very tragic. Our employees are volunteering to assist in the recovery process."

Elsewhere, Central Texas Electric Cooperative deployed teams to assist neighboring Kerrville Public Utility Board, whose system was hit hard by the flooding.

"We're grateful for the opportunity to serve and support our neighbors when they need it most," the co-op said in a public statement.

According to Martin Bevins, VP of Communications at Texas Electric Cooperatives, "We are not currently seeing significant damage in co-op service territory."

Mike Williams, CEO of the statewide association, added, "Despite the horrific weather event, electric utility infrastructure is in relatively good shape. Our prayers are with the families and friends of the loved ones lost or missing."

Amid tragedy, Texas co-ops demonstrated resilience, mutual aid, and commitment to their communities.

Source: electric.coop