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By Scott Mims | Community Columnist

If you were one of the approximately 238,000 Alabama Power customers — or 3,500 in Chilton County — to lose power during the storms of Feb. 15 and 16, then I believe you will share my gratitude for the crews who worked tirelessly to get everyone back online.

Unfortunately, some experienced downed trees and power lines as part of the storm’s aftermath as well. I have been in their shoes before. Several years ago, a strong storm uprooted a tree in my backyard, damaging part of our fence in the process. Another year, we lost our beautiful shade tree in front, as it fell onto power lines blocking our next door neighbor’s driveway in the process.

Even though our street and driveways had to be blocked for a short time, I was thankful for the Alabama Power linemen and other workers who came out to remedy the situation. In addition, a local group of volunteers from the Chilton Baptist Association came out with chainsaws and heavy equipment to help remove the tree and cut it up into moveable pieces. I was grateful to each one who donated their time and energy to assist us and our neighbors in our time of need.

Since we rely so heavily on electricity and Internet in the modern era, it can be easy to take these services for granted (of course, I remember them each month when I pay my bill, but I willingly pay it for these services!) But if you’re anything like me, each time the power goes out you still walk into your bathroom and flick the switch, thanks to force of habit.

Fortunately, locals didn’t have to wait too long to get their power restored this time. According to reports, by the evening of Feb. 17, all of the Chilton County outages were restored thanks to the power crews.

We should always show gratitude to all (paid or volunteer) who have to get out of their comfortable beds and work to make sure the rest of us get back to business as usual.