By Matt Nauman –
More than 400 PG&E electric workers and support staff, and more than 300 vehicles, arrived in Georgia Friday afternoon to join the mutual-assistance response to Hurricane Helene. PG&E crews worked on Saturday and Sunday at 60 different work locations throughout the hardest hit areas of Georgia replacing power poles and lines.
Monday, Oct. 7, Georgia Power says that more than 95% of its 1.3 million customers who lost power during Helene have been restored. About 20,000 personnel from Georgia Power and from other utilities across North America continue to make progress with repairs and restoration.
Unfortunately, right on the heels of Hurricane Helene, another massive storm is getting ready to make landfall. Hurricane Milton, which rapidly intensified in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend and is now a Category 5 hurricane, could be the strongest hurricane to hit the Tampa Bay area in 100 years.
Ahead of that storm, PG&E crews and vehicles are headed to Daytona Beach Monday, on the Atlantic Ocean side of Florida, to be positioned to provide restoration help once it is safe to do so. Once the brunt of the storm passes through Florida, it’s expected that PG&E crews will be dispatched to areas most severely impacted by Milton.
As a result of this move, after supporting Georgia Power over the weekend, the PG&E contingent will now be supporting Florida Power & Light (FPL).
In 2017, PG&E crews deployed to Florida for two weeks to make repairs after Hurricane Irma. Working on both coasts of Florida, PG&E crews safely responded to more than 650 repair jobs, restoring more than 41,000 customers.
“Whether we’re helping customers in Georgia or Florida, our focus is on safety and our dedication to do the job right doesn’t change,” said Incident Management Team 3 Incident Commander Bobby Severson, who is leading the PG&E mutual-assistance deployment.
God Bless the PG&E crews & all the people helping out and keep everyone safe.