Duquesne Light and FirstEnergy are sending power crews to Florida for Hurricane Milton help
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Duquesne Light and FirstEnergy are both sending power crews to Florida to assist in the response to Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm.
Milton is bringing life-threatening storm surge and catastrophic winds to Florida and millions are without power as the area has become inundated with water.
With those millions without power, Pennsylvania-based power crews are helping out with the all-hands-on-deck approach to restoring service.
Duquesne Light is one of the companies sending workers to Florida with 15 underground crew members and staff on the way to the Clearwater area.
The company says it has some mutual assistance agreements in place that allow utility companies to come together and help each other out during major storms like these.
Duquesne Light already had 65 workers in Florida with crews made up of lineworkers, mechanics, safety representatives, and other staff stationed in Davenport, which is in the central part of the state.
Crews have been on the road since late last month helping people in Virginia and the Appalachian region with damage left behind from Hurricane Helene.
FirstEnergy is also sending workers south to help out with nearly 600 workers being sent to Florida.
"FirstEnergy employees are answering the call to help rebuild communities expected to be impacted by Hurricane Milton," said John Huber, FirstEnergy's Director of Emergency Preparedness. "These dedicated crews leave their own families for weeks at a time to support large-scale power restoration efforts, where their expertise shines in aiding communities to rebuild their power grids after severe weather events. Although Hurricane Milton is not projected to impact any FirstEnergy service territories, we have thoroughly evaluated the conditions and have the necessary personnel in place to support consistent operations for our local customers."
The company is transitioning many of the crews to Florida that were helping to restore power lost from Helene in Georgia and the Carolinas.
Like Duquesne Light, FirstEnergy also has mutual assistance partnerships to help out during natural disasters.
