Savannah River Site Responds to Hurricane Helene Impacts

With thousands of trees uprooted and utility lines down, essential employees worked around the clock to restore SRS to normal operations.

"Nearly all major roadways at SRS were impacted by fallen trees or downed power lines. The majority of this was cleared and restored in two days," said Donny Barfield, director, SRNS Site Services. "We plan for these extreme weather events, so our team was prepared to begin work on recovery efforts immediately."

In preparation for the storm, SRNS Site Services and the Savannah River National Laboratory Atmospheric Technologies Group implemented the severe weather procedure. Activities included staging equipment in three response zones, filling 2,500 sandbags and adjusting shift schedules. The hurricane made landfall as a Category 4 storm late in the evening of Sept. 26, bringing wind gusts up to 82 mph.

"Nearly 80 Site Services employees consisting of heavy equipment operators, road crews and six linemen reported to the site during initial recovery efforts. The team collaborated with the SRSFD and the U.S. Forest Service to clear roadways and rescue several motorists trapped inside their vehicles," continued Barfield.

SRSFD Fire Chief Travis Scott added, "The fire department mobilized all available personnel in the immediate aftermath of the storm, with over 50 employees actively engaged in tree removal, rescuing trapped civilians and responding to various emergencies caused by the storm. I am incredibly proud of the unified effort demonstrated by all."

During recovery efforts, the site was in an operational emergency status, or a state of heightened alertness and operational flexibility to manage unforeseen challenges.

"In the face of Hurricane Helene, the ERO turned a potential crisis into a showcase of our strength and collaboration," said Neal Gilmore, SRNS director of Safeguards, Security and Emergency Services. "I witnessed firsthand how our proactive emergency protocols and the swift decision-making of all site tenants enabled us to manage water intrusion and process interruptions with no significant impact to site operations. This experience has underscored the strength of our response teams and the power of coming together in times of crisis."

SRS coordinated with offsite fuel shipments of gasoline, ethanol and diesel fuel to ensure SRS critical loads were supplied. Over 14,000 gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel were provided to essential employees to combat offsite gas shortages. In addition, SRNS subcontractor Russell's Pizza provided nearly 7,500 meals to responding employees. Weather and safety leave was made available to all full-service employees unable to work.