Cities such as Kissimee, Florida and Lafayette, Louisiana will be sending electrical crews to help with power outages caused by Hurricane Michael. Mayor Andrew Gillum and Utility Director Rob McGarrah say there will be consistent help to get power back as soon as the storm passes.
“Many of these folks are folks that we’ve worked with and come to their aid before. We’ve got the group from Kissimmee, from Lafayette, Louisiana, that I think has been here now twice," says Gillum. "The Lafayette folks have been here twice. We’ve been out at their system one or two times to help them. So these folks are used to going around and helping each other when we have these types of storm events,” says McGarrah.
The Florida Municipal Electric Association is bringing 150 crew members into Tallahassee on Tuesday to prepare for the storm’s landfall. The remainder of the mutual aid personnel will arrive on Thursday. City leaders have been criticized for not accepting more aid offer for power restoration following 2016’s Hurricane Hermine where 80% of the city lost power.
