FPL crews joining other emergency workers
More Florida Power & Light crews headed north Thursday to help more than 300,000 people without electricity in the wake of Hurricane Michael.
They will be joining other first responders from South Florida.
Eight bucket trucks, two other vehicles and nearly 20 technicians from Broward and MiamiDade counties left Pompano Beach to join about 3,000 personnel already deployed as part of the hurricane restoration team, said spokesman Richard Gibbs.
“A storm is kind of like our Super Bowl,” he said. “We know what we’re getting ourselves into.”
FPL customers will have their power restored first and then crews will help other utility companies fix their downed power lines.
“We do everything we can to restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” he said.
This crew was scheduled to stop midway between Jacksonville and Tallahassee before being sent into trouble areas, said Gregory Jones, FPL operations section chief.
“Our plans are to head to the Lake City Columbia County Fairgrounds,” he said. “[That] is our staging site where we will get our final marching orders.”
Other crews were in place before the hurricane hit, Gibbs said.
“We definitely had other crews up there ahead of time,” he said. “We pre-stage our resources and we put them in places where we know we can get them into the field to start restoration work.”
Other emergency workers from South Florida have been streaming north as well.
About 40 firefighters and fire engines from around South Florida and troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol’s Quick Reaction Force headed for the Panhandle on Wednesday to help with rescues, recovery and road patrols.
Additionally, Davie Police Major Dale Engle said seven of the department’s officers were leaving from headquarters on Thursday afternoon for the trip north to the disaster zone.
“Police and fire agencies were asked by state emergency management if they were prepared to send personnel to the Panhandle,” he said.
The department responded to the Florida Keys after last year’s Hurricane Irma and have the necessary gear, including satellite phones, camping gear and first aid supplies and food, he said.
“So we have the equipment that will make our officers selfsufficient for a week, and we’ll prepare a second team to replace them,” Engle said.