FPL urges safety amid Ian’s approach
Florida is now in the cross hairs of Hurricane Ian, which is forecast to become a major storm before making landfall this week. At Florida Power & Light Company, we have activated our emergency response plan so we’re ready for whatever this storm brings our way.
Up until now, Florida has been very fortunate to enjoy a quiet Atlantic hurricane season, but Hurricane Ian is an unfortunate reminder that it’s not a matter of if a storm will strike, but when, where and how strong.
That’s why at FPL, we refuse to let our guard down and you shouldn’t either. We fully expect Hurricane Ian will cause significant outages across much of our service area. Now is the time to finalize your emergency plans at work and with your families and to ensure you have the supplies you need on hand.
I’ve been with FPL since 1982 and we say that every day we’re not experiencing a storm is a day we spend preparing for one. It’s an important mindset because while every hurricane is different, all are devastating forces of nature.
I saw this firsthand when I surveyed the damage Hurricane Andrew brought 30 years ago. Every pole I could see had been knocked down. The overwhelming power of Andrew challenged us to look for innovative ways to approach how we restore power.
We were challenged again after the historic hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005. That’s when seven storms affected our service area — four of which were major hurricanes — and showed us we needed to make our system stronger.
Since then, FPL has invested and continues to invest to build a stronger, smarter and more storm-resilient energy grid to deliver electricity our customers can count on in good weather and bad. Not to mention, today we leverage technology — like drones and intelligent devices — which we never could have dreamed of 30 years ago when Andrew struck.
These disciplined investments consistently paid off for customers during numerous storms over the last several years by shaving days off our restoration efforts and getting our communities back up and running faster than ever before.
Even so, Mother Nature is unpredictable and despite all the improvements FPL has made, no system will ever be hurricane-proof. Outages are going to occur. In addition to the hurricane-force winds, torrential rain and possible tornadoes, trees, debris, significant storm surge and flooding will likely make it difficult for our crews to access some areas, which can affect the speed of our restoration efforts.
That’s why I want to urge all Floridians to keep safety top-of-mind before, during and especially after the storm. We can help with safety and preparation tips at FPL.com/Storm. After the storm, we know you will want information so that you can make plans. We’ll post information at FPL.com/Storm, Facebook.com/ FPLconnect and Twitter.com/insideFPL. I also encourage you to download the FPL app or text the word “Join” to MyFPL (69375) to be enrolled in alerts to get the latest information.
Stay safe and know that all of us at FPL will do whatever it takes to restore power safely and as quickly as possible. And remember, even if you don’t see them, our team will be working to restore your power.