January/February 2017 | The Davey Bulletin 15
clearance contractor couldn't supply
storm crews.
"The common thread that came out
of the field was that every utility we
responded to marveled at how well
Davey crews performed," he said.
"Not only from the standpoint of
getting the work done but also their
professionalism as they did the work."
DRG GUIDES CLEANUP
FOR UTILITY CLIENTS
Without DRG, crews from Davey and
other tree care firms would have had
a harder time helping utilities turn the
lights back on.
"We have several different functions
we perform," said Scott Anderson,
project developer/market manager, DRG.
Located in Jacksonville, Florida,
Anderson served as storm central
for DRG. He worked with other DRG
managers to dispatch utility foresters,
who helped by checking in tree crews
and running staging sites as crews
responded to assist with clean-up
efforts.
"Our other foresters were primarily
teamed up with tree crews, and they
ran tickets," Anderson said. "They
would get a call and then coordinate
getting a crew from one location to
another. They were basically escorting
groups of tree crews to different
locations for responses."
DRG also assessed storm damage
immediately after the hurricane passed
and provided data to the utility client,
who used it to dispatch both tree
crews and utility line crews. Both
DRG's asset management and
vegetation management teams
provided assistance.
R/C HELPS HILTON HEAD
RECOVER FROM STORM
The biggest response for
Residential/Commercial crews came
at Hilton Head Island off the South
Carolina coast.
There, about 56 employees from more
than 19 different R/C offices responded
to the hardest-hit area of the island:
The Sea Pines Resort. The 5,200-acre
private residential neighborhood
is home to three golf courses and
hundreds of residences.
Keith Francies, southeast operations
manager, R/C, said the employees
working on Hilton Head Island
performed every aspect of tree cleanup
following the storm on the three golf
courses, including the famous Harbor
Town course, clubhouses, common
areas and residential properties
This mountain of wood chips is almost all that remains of the storm damage
R/C crews cleaned up on Hilton Head Island after Hurricane Matthew.
Utility crews working to
help restore power often
encountered flooded roads
left in the hurricane's wake.
The unique flora found in the
South proved challenging at
times during the storm cleanup.
Continued on page 16
