MAYFIELD, Ky. — With all employees safe and accounted for, Progress Rail resumed operations at its Mayfield, Ky., plant earlier this week, according to a company spokeswoman.
Mayfield was one of the Western Kentucky communities heavily damaged during last week’s series of tornadoes that struck a six-state area. Eight people were killed at a candle factory elsewhere in Mayfield.
Operations at the Mayfield facility, which repairs locomotives, resumed on Tuesday. Parent company Caterpillar’s Caterpillar Foundation, through the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program, is helping with emergency services for those impacted, spokeswoman Amy Everett reports, and Caterpillar and its dealers providing equipment and generators to assist in rescue and cleanup. To date, this includes power to waste water treatment plants, water stations and healthcare facilities, and portable generators to support community members impacted by the disaster.
Some time ago, a news article cited an interesting similar incident. Seems a city in Canada was suffering a electric power shortage. They brought in a diesel loco and set it up to provide electric power for the city. Someone was thinking “outside the box”. Good for them and the city.
Excellent! Cat dealers and distributors on the ball here. If anyone has the ability to “bring in the power” it would be Cat.