CLEARWATER, Fla. - Duke Energy crews from Pinellas County will join hundreds of other linemen in the Carolinas Wednesday ahead of the winter storm.
Officials said there will be 275 utility crews deployed from Florida. A seaside town in North Carolina has already seen a tornado spawned by cold fronts along the edge of the weather system that has overwhelmed power grids and immobilized the Southern Plains on Tuesday carried heavy snow and freezing rain into New England and the Deep South and left behind painfully low temperatures. Wind-chill warnings extended from Canada into Mexico.
North Carolina’s Brunswick County had little notice of the dangerous weather, and a tornado warning was not issued until the storm was already on the ground.
The National Weather Service was "very surprised how rapidly this storm intensified ... and at the time of night when most people are at home and in bed, it creates a very dangerous situation," Emergency Services Director Ed Conrow said.
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TECO crews head to winter storm-hit areas
As millions of people lose power in Texas, Louisiana and other states, TECO linemen are on their way to help restore power.
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The tornado was an EF3 with winds estimated at 160 mph (257 kph), the weather service said on Twitter. Three people died and 10 were injured when the tornado tore through a golf course community and another rural area just before midnight Monday, destroying dozens of homes.
Forecasters believe ice will be a major issue later in the week.
The severe winter weather has already delayed vaccine shipments to Florida.
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Winter weather causes vaccine shipment delays
Gov. Ron DeSantis put out an alert to all county health departments that the bad weather will likely be causing delays in shipments of vaccine doses.
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Publix recently said its Wednesday scheduling event has been canceled, which would have been for appointments starting on Friday.
Crews from Largo, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater met Wednesday morning to get their bucket trucks ready and hit the road.
On Tuesday, 90 TECO lineworkers headed to Louisiana to help restore power.
The Associated Press contributed to this report