South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC) Prepares for Outages When Severe Weather Is Forecast

Don Wambles knew the storm damage was bad when he set out around dawn on a Sunday morning in March.

Wambles, coordinator of the Salem-Troy Baptist Association’s disaster relief team, lives not far from where an EF2 tornado with peak winds of 130 mph tore through Pike County on March 15.

The storm flipped an 18-wheeler and took down power lines along U.S. Highway 231 near Walmart in Troy. Many homes suffered roof damage, windows blew out, and trees fell on houses. Near the Ebenezer community, several mobile homes were destroyed. Metal was wrapped around trees. Thankfully, there were no fatalities.

The tornado damaged 61 utility poles on South Alabama Electric Cooperative’s network and resulted in 3,800 outages among members.

Wambles started pulling volunteers together immediately to help clean up storm debris and get tarps up to protect people’s homes.

“It was just an outpouring of neighborly love, really, like you don’t see anymore,” he says. “It was amazing how everybody worked together. We understood power was a priority, but we had to get the roads clear so they could get in there to restore power.”

SAEC gauges the risk when severe weather is expected, keeping crews on standby to begin any necessary repairs as soon as it’s safe to do so. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know for sure what will happen with a storm system.

The March 15 tornado touched down around 11 p.m. near the Mossy Grove area of Pike County. It left a swath of torn-up earth, broken utility poles, and debris for more than 21 miles. In the hours before the tornado, SAEC crews spent the day responding to outages caused by high winds preceding the main storm system. When crews wrapped up for the day, they thought they had seen the worst of it.

A few hours later, the tornado touched down near Troy.

“We were close to being out of the woods,” says Andy Kimbro, SAEC vice president of member services.

In the days after the storm, SAEC received help from Pea River Electric Cooperative as well as 2 private contractors, Southern States and Kings Table Powerline Service Inc., that contract with SAEC and already had crews in the area.

It was nearly 48 hours before SAEC crews restored the last outage, and even 2 weeks later, linemen were still working in some areas.

Kimbro says SAEC does its best to be prepared when severe weather conditions are forecast.

“You just know there’s a major storm coming. There will be outages. There will be broken poles,” Kimbro says. “You need to be ready.”

But in some cases, it’s not even a storm that causes damage. This year, SAEC has had 2 large outages caused by vehicles striking utility poles. And while there are always after-hours crews on call, a broken 3-phase pole like the 1 the collision involved requires an entire construction crew for repairs, Kimbro says.

Predicting when accidents will happen is impossible. Weather, however, is easier to prepare for because you know it’s coming, and outages are likely to happen, Kimbro says. With hurricanes, for example, the cooperative knows what kind of winds to expect if a storm makes landfall along the Northwest Florida coast.

“It’s not a matter of if,” Kimbro says. “It’s coming and it will be here at 4 a.m., so you know you’re fixing to get broken poles with this storm.”

Severe thunderstorms are more challenging, he says. And even if severe storms don’t impact SAEC, they could always impact a neighboring cooperative.

“You may get a tornado, you may not,” Kimbro says. “You may get the hard straight-line winds that can be just as bad as tornadoes. You may not. You know it’s coming. It’s going to get somebody, and you just don’t know if it’s going to get you or not, but you’ve got to be prepared.”

Students Gain a Deeper Understanding of How Cooperatives, & Government Work

Cade May and Lola Drinkwater were surprised by the Alabama State House, naming it as 1 of their favorite stops during this year’s Montgomery Youth Tour.

“We got to basically experience what they do, and I didn’t know our state government did that much,” Drinkwater says.

May and Drinkwater were among 13 local high school juniors representing South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC) in the state’s capital for the 2025 Montgomery Youth Tour.

Each year, high school juniors representing Alabama’s electric cooperatives travel to Montgomery to learn leadership skills, see how their government works, and make connections with peers from around the state. They learn how electric cooperatives operate, meet elected officials, and tour historic sites around the capital.

The Alabama Rural Electric Association hosts the Montgomery Youth Tour, held this year on March 11 through March 13.

Along with the Alabama State House, May and Drinkwater say The Legacy Museum and the Alabama State Capitol building were among the highlights they’ll remember. Overall, the experience opened their eyes.

“It surpassed my expectations,” May says. “I really enjoyed getting to meet new people, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be.”

May and Drinkwater, both 17 years old, were selected to represent SAEC June 16 through 22 at the National Rural Electric Youth Tour in Washington, D.C., which is sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association as well as AREA and local electric cooperatives.

May says he is looking forward to the National Youth Tour, especially after the trip to Montgomery.

“All the other students we met were really kind, and all were very personable, social people,” says May, who attends Pike Liberal Arts School. “It was easy to make friends with them. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Drinkwater, a student at Charles Henderson High School, says she was surprised by how many students attended and all the different activities held during Youth Tour.

“We learned a much deeper understanding of what co-ops do, and there were also leadership things involved and learning to work together,” she says.

After 36 Years With SAEC, Hill Embraces Life’s Next Chapter

Mark Hill got the first slice of 4 red velvet cakes, baked in his honor by a fellow retiree.

Co-workers past and present, board members, and family members packed South Alabama Electric Cooperative’s (SAEC) community room in March as Hill ended his 36-year career with SAEC, retiring as the cooperative’s vice president of business administration.

“I’ll miss the people,” Hill says. “You hear it pretty much everywhere you go, but the co-op is like a family.”

Hill began his career on the business side of utilities at Alabama Electric Cooperative — now PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. He worked part-time from January to September 1984 while he attended Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia. He left to attend college in Troy, and about a year later, he received a phone call from AEC with an offer of full-time work.

4 years later, Max Davis, SAEC’s general manager at the time, mentioned his search for a new data processing manager to AEC’s chief financial officer, who gave Davis Hill’s name. Davis gave Hill a call, and in 1989, Hill joined SAEC.

“It came out of nowhere,” Hill says. “I wasn’t looking to go anywhere, but it just worked out. Obviously, it’s been a blessing with the opportunities I’ve had here.”

Witness to Change

The inner workings of the cooperative were vastly different in 1989, Hill says. There was no network. There was 1 mainframe computer with terminals at each employee’s workstation.

In 1999, Hill became SAEC’s office manager, supervising billing and customer service. Hill often came face-to-face with members who were unhappy about their bill. Hill says he learned the “craft of dealing with people” when they’re upset. While he couldn’t satisfy every member who came to his office, his method was to be nice and explain as much as he could from the cooperative’s standpoint.

“I just found the main thing was to listen to them and let them get it out,” Hill says. “Most of the time, it would settle them. I might not be able to fix their issue, but I could at least say, ‘Look, I’m sorry that you’re upset about this, and obviously we’ll do anything we can to try and help you.’”

There were no online payment options, payments were made strictly by checks, cash, and money orders. There was 1 billing cycle — today there are 4 — with a due date of the first day of the month, with cutoffs a few days later.

“Cutoff was just crazy,” Hill says. “Cutoff was always the fifth of the month, and there would just be people piled into the lobby trying to pay. I nearly shiver thinking about it.”

1 of the biggest positive changes Hill says he witnessed in recent years was the construction of SAEC’s new building. Not only is it roomier and more modern, but Hill says the new facility gave the cooperative storage space it didn’t have for trucks and equipment.

The new office was also built with members in mind, Hill says. Members now have a drive-thru payment window they can use rather than make the long trek from the parking lot to the old building. Members also have more payment options located around SAEC’s service territory, and new members no longer must come into the office to sign up for service. They can do it online.

“That’s what we’ve always tried to do, which was to look at the member first,” Hill says. “How can we best serve them and make things easier for them? Hopefully, we’ve done that.”

Family Time

In this next chapter of his life, Hill plans to spend more time with his family — his wife, Patty, children, Adam and Peyton, and grandchildren, Sophie, 7, and 2-year-old Samuel. When his wife retired 2 years ago and began keeping their grandson during the day, Hill says he began feeling the urge to retire. There will be beach trips, golf, and catching up with friends around Brantley.

But Hill says he will miss seeing his SAEC family daily.

“When you spend that much time with them, you know all about their families, their activities, and you grow up and you watch their kids and grandkids,” Hill says. “It’s been such a blessing to me as far as being able to work in a cooperative. A lot of my best friends work here, and it’s just such a good community to work in.”

O’s Cool Bike Ride & Walk Funds Balance Bikes, Memorial Scholarships

Heather Lewis remembers the phrase her son, Owen, would say whenever he saw his daddy, Onick, return from training for a triathlon.

“Daddy, I want to ride a cool bike like you.”

Owen had mastered a balance bicycle — a toddler bike without pedals — and rode so fast that Onick had to run to keep up with him.

Tragically, Owen Wayne Lewis lived to be only 2½ years old, dying suddenly on April 28, 2022, from lymphocytic myocarditis, a rare inflammation of heart muscle caused by a buildup of white blood cells. However, Owen’s presence is still felt.

In May 2022, his parents founded O’s Cool Bike Foundation, a nonprofit to honor his life. The organization donates balance bikes to Head Start programs and provides a scholarship at Troy University, where Onick and Heather are both professors.

“We want people to still get to know Owen, to embrace his personality, and to keep his memory alive,” Heather says. “After his sudden passing, we knew that we needed to share Owen’s love of bike riding with other young children and allow him to ride on forever through them.”

Pedaling With Purpose

To accomplish that, the foundation’s signature event, the third annual O’s Cool Bike Ride and Walk, is scheduled for April 26 at Troy University to coincide with the Saturday closest to Owen’s passing.

“We’re excited more and more people register every year,” Heather says. In 2023, 181 participated. Last year, 230 registered, and they’re hoping for at least 250 people to show up this year.

With money raised at the ride, along with sponsorships and grants from local businesses, the foundation has donated 180 helmets and balance bikes to Organized Community Action Program Head Start programs in 6 Southeastern Alabama counties.

The foundation is also working to endow the Owen Wayne Lewis Memorial Scholarship, given to first-generation Troy University students majoring in social work and human services or seeking a degree in hospitality, tourism and event management. Onick is the director of the Bachelor of Social Work program, while Heather is an associate professor of hospitality, tourism, and event management classes.

O’s Cool Bike Ride and Walk is a real-world lesson for Heather’s students, who develop and plan the event as part of an event management class at Troy University.

“It’s a family-friendly event with everything we do focusing on what Owen loved — riding his balance bike, bounce houses and dinosaurs,” she says.

The event’s 5 routes, named for Owen’s favorite dinosaurs, vary in length — the 64-mile T-Rex Tour, the 45-mile Stegosaurus Stomp, the 34-mile Triceratops Trek, the 1.2-mile Raptor Trot/Ride, and the Little T-Rex Ride, which is designed for the youngest riders. All routes start on campus with longer distances traveling through Troy and winding throughout Pike County. A virtual option is offered for those unable to attend in person.

Owen’s Lessons

Heather says Owen had a loving, vivacious personality and captivated everyone he met.

“His sudden death changed how we look at life,” she says. “He reminds us to embrace and enjoy little things every day because we’re not promised tomorrow.”

As Onick says, Owen taught them that “it’s important to live life every day.”

They tell their daughters — Aubrey Grace, 2, and 3-year-old Eden — about Owen and how he was “quick to smile, quick to love and quick to learn,” Heather says.

“He loved the outdoors, especially going for rides on his ‘cool’ bike with his daddy, and often had to be bribed with fruit snacks to return home,” she says.

Owen was born on October 17, 2019, and he received his balance bike for his first Christmas.

“By the time he was 17 months old, he was riding his balance bike,” Heather says. “Just a week before his passing, he was so comfortable on his bike that his daddy was running behind to keep up as he would pick up his feet to glide along and go as fast as he could. We’re sure he would have been riding a regular pedal bike before he turned 3.”

Heather says they are grateful to the students, volunteers, local businesses, and campus and community organizations for supporting O’s Cool Bike Ride and Walk and the foundation, enabling Owen to live on.

Their grief, however, is ongoing.

“Every day is different, and some days we’re comforted in unusual ways,” she says. “On rough days, sometimes reassuring things will happen randomly that allow us to know he is still with us. It is usually him allowing us to find his name on random things — a discarded name tag on the ground or on the license plate of a vehicle stopped at a stoplight in front of us.”

Seasoned Linemen Share Lessons From Their Years With South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC)

There are 100 years of experience between linemen Tony Greer, Blane Senn, and Darrell Foster.

In those years, the 3 South Alabama Electric Cooperative linemen have seen a lot on the job — good and bad. April is Lineman Appreciation Month, and April 18 is Lineman Appreciation Day.

In June, service foreman Greer marks his 38th year, while fellow foreman Senn hits 34 years a month later. Foster, an A-class lineman, has a total of 30 years on the job.

Technology has made their jobs easier in ways they never anticipated. Meters are read automatically from the office. Trucks are bigger, taller and equipped with iPads for work orders. Poles are also taller, and linemen still climb poles several times a week, compared to the 7 or 8 times a day in years past. Fall-prevention safety equipment makes the climb a little slower for older linemen who didn’t learn how to climb with the equipment from the beginning.

“The new guys that have learned to climb in it at lineman school — they climb wonderfully in it, but we still have a little trouble with it,” Greer says.

Safety gear has improved over the years. Along with hard hats, linemen wear fire-retardant clothing, steel-toed boots, safety harnesses for climbing poles, safety gloves, gaffs — sharp, pointed climbing spikes made specifically for utility poles — and rubber sleeves.

“They’re hot, mostly in the summertime,” Foster says of the rubber sleeves. “I don’t mind putting them on in the winter as much because it’s cold.”

While lineman classes were available when they started, most of the training for seasoned linemen like Greer, Senn, and Foster happened on the job.

“We had some old-school foremen back then who really put your nose to the grindstone, and they tried to see what you were made of,” Greer says.

It wasn’t unusual for new linemen to be hired in the summer to see how they handled the heat.

“By then they knew exactly what they had if you made it through the summertime,” Senn says. “If you’ve never done this work during the summertime, it can be rough.”

Joining the SAEC Family

Both Foster and Greer joined SAEC thanks to the influence of longtime lineman Nathan Madison Jr., who died in 2022 after nearly 50 years with SAEC.

Greer’s father ran the repair shop at a Chevrolet dealership that serviced Madison’s SAEC utility truck. Greer, then in high school, washed the truck after it was serviced and got to know Madison. When Greer graduated in 1987, Madison encouraged him to apply for a job at SAEC, and 2 weeks out of high school he began working at the cooperative.

Foster was related to Madison, and about 7 months after Foster graduated high school, Madison encouraged him to apply with SAEC.

“He came over to my mom and dad’s house and asked me about getting a job out here, so I filled out an application — me and some more guys — and he called me 1 night and told me, ‘I think you might have the job,’” Foster says.

Sure enough, Foster was called for an interview and hired.

Working in All Weather

Foster works on the construction side. His crew sets the poles and builds new distribution lines. Greer and Senn work on the maintenance side. But when a storm blows through the service area, they all come together to keep the power on.

January’s record snow was a breeze compared to the 1993 blizzard.

And no storm has yet to compare to Hurricane Opal in 1995, the 3 linemen say. The hurricane made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, causing a swath of damage extending into Alabama and Georgia. The entire SAEC service area was without power for around 36 hours.

Linemen worked 14 days straight, 12 to 16 hours a day, following Opal. There were more than 300 extra linemen and over 150 trucks to help repair the damage to the system.

Utility work can be dangerous, of course. Foster, Greer and Senn have all fallen down a pole.

But Senn survived the most dangerous risk of the job — 14,000 volts of electricity shot into his left hand and out of his left foot. It happened in February 1996, the day after Valentine’s Day when Senn proposed to his wife. He had never feared electricity before that, but he has a healthy fear of it today. Senn considers himself lucky to have survived and often shares the experience with new linemen so they’ll understand the reality of what could happen.

“When you’re young, you always think nothing is ever going to hurt you; you’re going to be just fine,” Senn says. “It doesn’t take but just a split second for that to change your outlook or attitude toward it. At the end of the day, I just try to get the guys working with me back home.”

As a network administrator at South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC), Matthew Webb supports both the office and operations teams with all their tech needs. A member of the SAEC family since March 2024, he says he values the collaborative culture at SAEC and working together to solve problems.

What Are Your Responsibilities?

I help the IT manager with the day-to-day operations of the IT department. I’m responsible for keeping everything running smoothly with our network, including PCs, servers, and network devices. I also handle the maintenance and monitoring of our communications systems, like the telephones and the network at our substations. In addition, I assist with the management of mobile communications for the company and oversee the video surveillance system and audiovisual equipment.

What Made You Want To Join the SAEC Team?

I was drawn by the opportunity to work in a dynamic and innovative environment where I can apply my technical skills and continue to grow. The work aligns with my interests, especially in maintaining and optimizing complex systems. I also value the collaborative culture here and the chance to contribute to both the day-to-day operations and long-term IT strategy.

What Is Your Favorite Part of the Job?

My favorite part of the job is collaborating with the team to troubleshoot and solve problems. I enjoy working together to identify and resolve issues with our network and systems, ensuring everything runs smoothly. It’s especially rewarding when I can assist in resolving an issue that directly reduces my co-workers’ stress, knowing that my efforts make their workday easier and more efficient.

What Do You Think Is the Most Important Impact SAEC Has on Its Community?

Delivering reliable and affordable electricity that powers local homes and businesses. In addition, the cooperative collaborates with local economic development organizations to help retain and create jobs in our area. We also contribute time and resources to support local charities, strengthening the community. As an employee, it’s rewarding to work alongside a team that genuinely cares about their work and the services we provide for our members.

What’s Your Favorite Thing To Do When You Aren’t Working?

Spending quality time with my wife and kids. There’s nothing that brings me more joy and peace than being present for those precious moments — whether it’s playing together, watching them learn, or guiding them as they explore the world and discover new things.

What’s the Best Piece of Advice You’ve Ever Been Given?

2 phrases have stuck with me since high school. The first came from a conversation with my uncle, who said, “You can use your circumstances as an excuse or a reason to do better.” The second came from my dad, who told me, “Learn to use your head, or someone will use it for you.” Together, these messages have taught me to avoid coasting through life and to think critically and rationally about the choices I make.

While January and February bring some of the coldest weather of the year, the spring and summer months have their own unique influence on our electric bills.

A few key factors affect electricity prices, but you also can make a meaningful impact on home energy savings.

When you receive your monthly bill from South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC), you’re provided with a summary of how much electricity you used during the billing cycle. On the SAEC mobile app, you can even see how electricity use may have spiked on a particularly chilly (or hot summer) day or when guests stayed with you.

However, you might be surprised to learn that beyond your monthly energy consumption, there are external factors that can impact the cost of electricity.

Fuel Prices

SAEC buys electricity from its power generation partner, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative at a wholesale cost, then we deliver that power to our communities. The cost of generating and transmitting electricity from our generation partner accounts for a significant portion of the expense to provide electric service to homes and businesses — and the cost of fuels that are used to generate that electricity, such as natural gas, fluctuates based on supply and demand.

While these fluctuations can impact the cost of electricity, we work closely with PowerSouth Energy Cooperative to plan and help stabilize electricity prices for our members.

Extreme Weather

While we can’t control the weather, we can review weather patterns and forecasts to prepare for times of extreme cold or heat, when we know the demand for electricity will increase. However, when temperatures become extremely cold and the demand for electricity spikes, the price of electricity can also increase.

Infrastructure & Equipment

To cover the costs associated with providing electricity to your home or business, SAEC members pay a monthly base charge. This flat monthly fee ensures fixed costs such as equipment, materials, depreciation, and interest are covered for all members in SAEC’s service territory.

To ensure the reliable service you expect and deserve, we must maintain the local grid, including power lines, substations, and other essential equipment.

Energy Policy & Regulations

Federal energy policies and regulations can have a profound impact on electricity costs. As energy generation shifts to the use of more renewable sources and stricter regulations for traditional, always-available fuel sources, such as natural gas and coal plants, costly upgrades, and technologies must be constructed and deployed. These additional costs are ultimately passed to consumers.

U.S. power consumption is expected to double by 2050. Across the country, electric cooperatives are working with members of Congress to advocate for smart energy policies that reliably power our local communities.

We are urging the Trump administration to take concrete steps to repeal the EPA’s power plant rule and bolster the long-term reliability of the nation’s grid.

You Have Control

While many of these external factors that impact electricity costs are out of our control, we have the power to manage our energy use at home. The most effective way to lower use is thermostat management. Since heating and cooling account for a major portion of home energy use, adjusting the thermostat to the lowest comfortable setting can help you save energy and money.

Remember to service your heating and cooling system annually and replace dirty filters as needed.

You can also reduce energy use by sealing air leaks around windows, doors, and other areas where gaps are possible. This will help your heating and cooling system work less and improve the overall comfort of your home.

SAEC is your local energy partner, and we’re here to help.

For more energy-efficiency tips to help you save, visit southaec.com and click on the Efficiency Services tab. As always, we will continue working diligently to provide you with reliable power at an affordable cost.

Everyone has experienced the frustration of losing power while getting ready for work in the morning, during a pivotal moment of a favorite TV show, or just before the start of that college football game you and a few friends have gathered to watch on a Saturday afternoon.

While South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC) can’t stop power outages, the Cooperative hopes to better communicate with members when they do occur.

As part of a new outage management system, SAEC can now send text messages to notify members of outages in their area. The Cooperative can also receive texts from members who want to report an outage at their service address.

“The key to it working is proper information,” says Andy Kimbro, SAEC’s Vice President of Member Services. “We’ve got to have their cell number to make it work.”

Members can log into their accounts at southaec.com to ensure they have the correct cellphone numbers registered with their accounts. A welcome text is planned to introduce members to the system.

Those who have provided cellphone numbers to SAEC are automatically registered with the outage management system. When the Cooperative receives an alert from a member, the system pulls up the service address that corresponds with the registered number.

There’s no need for long explanations. SAEC will set up keywords members can use when texting the system at 1-800-556-2060. The outage management system will do the rest.

SAEC will then send a text to confirm the reported outage, notify the member when a crew has been dispatched and even send an estimated timeframe for restoring service.

Members can opt out of the text message system.

In cases where a member has multiple service addresses on their account, the system will send all service addresses and ask for the correct address of the outage, says Justin McLendon, Manager of SAEC’s Service Operations.

At times of a large outage, the system can pinpoint specific areas where crews have restored power, so messages are not sent to those members during the remainder of the outage.

With 11,504 members and 17,613 power meters, SAEC hopes the text message system will make reporting outages more efficient and less frustrating for members.

“It’s going to be more informative for the members of what’s going on,” McLendon says.

Protect Your Family and Property From Spring Storms

The anniversary of a deadly tornado that struck Enterprise is still a time of remembrance for the community and a poignant reminder to be prepared.

The anniversary is marked with a moment of silence for the 9 fatalities.

Many Enterprise residents remember exactly where they were at 1:05 p.m. on Thursday, March 1, 2007, when a tornado with 170 miles per hour winds touched down at the airport, tore through neighborhoods, and slammed into the high school, toppling a concrete wall onto students who were crouching in what they thought was the safest place, the science and math wing. 8 students perished, along with a person downtown.

The 500-yard-wide, 10-mile-long slice of destruction left a lasting impact.

A memorial was erected at the site of the destroyed high school and a plaque was placed in the foyer of the new high school to commemorate the victims. Forecast and communication programs have improved, and new storm shelters have been built. New schools are being constructed to withstand 200 mph winds and to serve as shelters during severe weather.

1 way to stock supplies and be prepared is to take advantage of Alabama’s severe weather preparedness sales tax holiday. From Friday, February 21, at 12:01 a.m. until Sunday, Feb. 23, at midnight, state sales tax will not be charged on certain severe weather preparedness items.

Stock Up

A list of items that will be tax-exempt can be printed from the Alabama Department of Revenue’s website: revenue.alabama.gov. The list includes batteries, weather radios, flashlights, tarps, plywood, and other items for protecting windows in storms, ice chests and coolers, generators, ice packs, fire, smoke, and carbon monoxide detectors, and first-aid kits.

Charge Up

If severe weather is in the forecast, be sure to charge cellphones, laptops, and other devices so you can communicate your location with family and first responders and keep updated about storms. Keep a small air horn on hand to alert responders to your location.

Listen Up

A weather radio provides reliable information. Also, Wireless Emergency Alerts are included in cellphone software to make a loud sound and warn of a severe weather watch. If a watch escalates to a warning, seek shelter.

Shelter Up

Shelters are generally located in or near schools, churches, fire departments, and other government buildings.