SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – Thousands of utility workers deployed to the hardest-hit areas of Florida early Wednesday after Hurricane Idalia pushed through the state.
Duke Energy established a command center just south of Sumterville, where power crews from all over the country parked and rode out the storm.
“I think it’s important for people to realize that these are additional resources from out of state,” said Ben Williamson with Duke Energy.
Workers arrived from Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and on Wednesday, they were sent to repair downed power lines and blown transformers.
Williamson said as his command center received information about the hardest hit areas, that was sent to the utility crews.
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Just before noon, they started rolling out to repair power lines in nearby Marion County.
Others were sent to hard-hit Taylor County and the Crystal River area, which was under water as Idalia moved through sending storm surge through the area.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced 99% of the residents in Taylor County had no power after the storm passed.
“They are going to be there as long as they need to be there,” said Williamson. “They’re going to be there until we’re down to zero people that are out. We will be able to know more when we see how bad the damage was. Were they smaller lines or major structure damage? We will be there until there’s no more people without power.”
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