Eversource sends crews to restore power in Florida

New England’s largest energy provider sent assistance to Florida to help restore power to the state after Hurricane Irma.

Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida on Sunday morning and the hurricane left as many as 15 million people in Florida without electricity, the Department of the Homeland Security said Tuesday. The state said as of Tuesday roughly 4.7 million remained without power.

A press release from Eversource said the company sent crews from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire to help with power restoration efforts. A convoy of 70 vehicles, including the company’s mobile command center, headed south to Florida on Saturday.

“(They) drove through flash flood warnings, tornado warnings and tropical storm warnings before arriving in Florida to check in with the state’s largest power company, Florida Power & Light Company,” the press release said.

The convoy from New England made a scheduled stop in Virginia on Sunday, to service the trucks and prepare for the work ahead.

The 100 employees sent to Florida arrived Tuesday and the restoration work was set to officially begin Wednesday, the press release said. The employees received specific assignments to help repair the widespread damage done to the state’s energy system as the hurricane tore through the area.

Eversource Incident Commander Marc Geaumont said the damage is extensive and the repairs will be challenging.

“We’re proud to join crews from throughout the country for this restoration effort,” Geaumont said. “We are all committed to working throughout the days and nights in the coming weeks to help get the lights on for customers here in Florida.”

The press release indicates Eversource sent “as many crews to Florida as possible” and ensured that there were enough resources needed to maintain order in the New England region.

Beyond just physical support down in Florida, Eversource’s call center has provided support to Tampa Electric Company by answering outage calls from its customers.