FPL crews on standby to respond to any storm-related outages

ORLANDO, Fla. – With the threat of a tropical storm looming, Florida Power and Light crews have 5,000 crew members on standby to respond in case the storm causes outages.

"We know where they would be in terms of staging sites in case we need to move people in certain areas to where the impact is greatest," FPL spokesman Richard Gibbs said.

Gibbs said the company has spent $2 billion since 2006, adding hardened poles, a smart grid and intelligent devices that can detect where power is lost.

"We've got all these things in place. We know that if the storm hits you're going to have the winds, you're going to have the rain, you're going to have circumstances where vegetation impacts lines, so that means outages, so people have to be prepared," said Gibbs.

FPL advised customers to stay prepared with a plan in case power goes out, because every storm is different and it takes time to restore power.

"It depends on the amount of vegetation in a corridor. It depends on the damage to the infrastructure," said Gibbs.

FPL does not have immediate plans to send local crews north to the Big Bend unless there is a call for help.