TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Leaders with Tampa Electric Company say they’re paying it forward – by sharing some of their untapped hurricane resources with hurricane-impacted communities in the Panhandle.
Since Tampa Bay isn’t seeing any lasting impacts from the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, TECO’s Cherie Jacobs said that means crews are available to help out.
“As many times as we’ve had bad storms in the Tampa Bay area, we’ve asked for help from other utilities; this is our opportunity to return that favor,” said Jacobs.
Saturday at dawn, around 60 TECO linemen and other personnel headed up to the Panhandle with tools, including an ATV and a set of solar panels, ready to be put to work wherever they’re needed.
“It is the cavalry arriving to help make sure that everybody gets their power on,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs said crews will be directed by the utility company that requested them as part of their mutual aid agreement.
Lineman Treston Wagner told 8 On Your Side that there are a lot of emotions that come with going out of town for business, but he says one of the biggest feelings is duty.
“It’s your responsibility,” said Wagner. “You sign up to come here and work, and when they send you out to the job, it’s like you signed up for it.”
Wagner said crews try to work fast, while watching out for each other, because they know how it feels to sit in a hot, dark house waiting for relief.
“We’ve had hurricanes down in Florida, so you kind of feel firsthand,” said Wagner. “When it comes to them being without power for a few days, we can understand what shoes they’re in.”
Jacobs says their crews have prepared to stay for as long as two weeks if need be.