Restoration crews lead the charge to restore power
In the wake of the worst natural disaster to ever hit Southwest Florida, North Fort Myers was the home base for a recovery army.
A contingent comprised of nearly 3,200 boots on the ground — and up in the air repairing power lines, transformers and more — filled the grounds at the Lee County Civic Center with an overflow for additional bucket-truck parking off Bayshore near the Posse Arena.
Power company restoration line crews, along with tree and debris removal personal, came from across the state and country to assist LCEC the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which left more than a quarter million customers in Cape Coral, Pine Island, Sanibel, North Fort Myers, Lehigh and other communities within the co-op’s service are without electricity.
The tally at last count was 3,154 personnel, not including support staff and suppliers.
“This was a historical storm like no one in SWFL has ever experienced,” LCEC spokesperson Karen Ryan said. “The LCEC service territory was ravaged. Understanding it is uncomfortable to be without electricity for any amount of time, LCEC implemented a plan to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. ”
She said restoration has been a team effort and that LCEC employees, including staff personnel, have very much been part of that team.
“With the assistance of so many, it is remarkable how quickly the system was rebuilt and although there is much work still to be done, LCEC is proud of how employees rose to the challenge. Behind the scenes, the more than 400 LCEC employees each play a vital role in restoration. From packing meals for field crews to inputting timesheets to doing laundry to setting up a resource center for employees who lost their homes, our employees focus on their roles to aid in the thorough LCEC restoration process.
“Even those employees who sustained major losses during Hurricane Ian have worked 12-16 hour shifts each and every day to energize the community as quickly and safely as possible. Life, families and all other personal priorities are put on hold for our customers, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Those responding in the mutual aid effort included: Alabama Power, Amicola EMC, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., Asplundh, Baldwin EMC, Black Warrior EMC, Canoochee EMC, Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, Cherokee Electric Cooperative, Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, City of Troy, Clark Public Utilities, Clay Electric Cooperative, Coastal Electric, Cobb EMC, Covington Electric Cooperative Inc., Coweta-Fayette EMC, Entergy Louisiana, Flint Energies, Grady EMC, Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative, Habersham EMC, Haugland Electric, Irwin EMC, Jackson EMC, Joe Wheeler EMC, Little Ocmulgee EMC, Middle Tennessee Electric, Mitchell EMC, North Georgia EMC, Ocmulgee EMC, Okefenoke REMC, Pea River Electric Cooperative, Peace River Electric Cooperative, Pike Electric, Planters EMC, Sand Mountain Electric Cooperative, Sawnee EMC, Snapping Shoals EMC, Southern Alabama Electric Cooperative, Southern Pine Electric, SPE Group, Sumter EMC, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, Talquin, Texas Electric Cooperatives, The Satilla Rural Electric Membership Cooperative, Tombigbee Electric Power Association, Walton EMC, Washington EMC, West Florida Electric, FPL, Duke Energy, Florida Electric Cooperative Association (FECA)
The damage numbers related to infrastructure destroyed or impacted are still being tallied.
“We don’t quite have the inventory numbers yet,” Ryan said. “There are so many crews in so many areas putting poles in the ground and wire in the air faster than we can count. I can easily say that costs and materials will probably double the stats for Hurricane Irma.”