Power companies staged in Tampa Bay area ahead of Helene impacts

Power crews head for Florida ahead of Helene

Lloyd Sowers reports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - By Wednesday afternoon, power company staging areas, including parking lots at the Tropicana Field, will be full of hundreds of power company trucks from across the country.

"We stage these folks far enough from the storm, so they're safe, but close enough to the storm, so when that storm hits, as soon as its safe enough to respond, to get the power back on as quickly and safely as possible," said Ana Gibbs, a spokesperson for Duke Energy Florida.

Thousands of tree trimmers are also being called in from outside the state. Bucket trucks will be invaluable.

READ: NASA, SpaceX postpone launch date of Crew-9 mission to space station due to Tropical Storm Helene

"These resources are going to be added by the minute," Governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. "More linemen are being brought into the staging areas."

A Tampa Electric Company spokesperson said additional electric line workers from out of state will stage in the Orlando area and then be dispatched to different areas of the state, including Tampa.

If your power company has an app or if you go to their website, you can sign up for updates that come right to your phone.

"We're able to communicate to our customers down to their very specific address, so once a power outage occurs, we're able to text that customer with specific times and information and updates," said Gibbs.

MAP: Where Florida’s Gulf Coast is susceptible to Helene storm surge

Tampa Electric, Duke Energy, and Florida Powers and Light (FPL) will operate from digital control centers to update customers and direct crews in the field.

Power companies are also warning residents to be careful with portable generators. They said you should never run it in an enclosed space, like a garage, and plug appliances directly into a portable generator. They also said not to hook it up to home circuits.

It could make power flow the wrong way, and put line workers outside in danger.

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