Savannah Mayor and City Manager visit local staging site

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Savannah City Manager Jay Melder visited their local staging site last week with Georgia Power Region Executive William Mock. The staging site is one of several that are able to support thousands of personnel in the Savannah area.

Mayor Van Johnson called the staging site “quite impressive” as he learned about the capabilities and the basic amenities. The 40 sleeping trailers are able to house 1500 at one time. Each bunk has power, lights and comfort items that allow crews to get much needed rest. The cafeteria is set up to serve 1800 meals per day in a large tent able to withstand high winds. The meals include hot breakfast, bagged lunch, hot dinner and various snacks throughout the day. Each site also has laundry and bathroom facilities large enough to serve the crews located on site for multiple days.

The site is erected by Emergency Disaster Services, a contractor that specializes in emergency mini-city setups for small armies of crews that are deployed during disasters. The trailers were deployed out of the Midwest and were ready within 24 hours of the storm’s passing to take care of the needs of the crews in the field. Sites that may not have easy access to water bring in water tankers for supply and fuel tankers are used to refuel trucks overnight while crews sleep.

Georgia Power Southeast Region Executive William Mock, stated that, “Most people have no idea of the logistics involved to set up an operation like this in 24-hours. The speed in which this complex site was setup is remarkable”

The Savannah staging site is just one of many throughout Georgia to house the thousands of personnel from at least 50 different companies from several other states and Canada. In addition to Savannah, Georgia Power set up four other staging sites in the southeast region including Brunswick, Hinesville, Statesboro, and Claxton.