Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Monday, September 11, 2017
(PLAINFIELD) - Getting a jump on what could be a large-scale restoration effort, Duke Energy sent more than ,400 Midwest line workers, contractors and related support personnel to Florida to help repair power outages caused by Hurricane Irma.
Around 630 of the 1,400 workers are from Indiana; the balance are from Ohio. They include damage assessors, line workers, tree crews and other support personnel.
Crews left Indiana early Saturday morning, and arrived in Pinellas County, Fla., by mid-afternoon Sunday. From there, they will be dispatched to storm-damaged areas in Florida as needed.
"Because we're a large utility in multiple areas of the country, we can deploy our crews from non-impacted areas to storm-damaged areas and restore power to our customers more quickly," said Melody Birmingham-Byrd, Duke Energy Indiana state president. "Many of these workers are seasoned veterans, having worked in numerous storm restoration efforts."
During this deployment, some of our non-emergency work throughout the Duke Energy service territories may be rescheduled. However, company officials plan to keep enough workers on hand locally for any emergencies that may occur.
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