PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — OG&E crews have been assisting Florida Power & Light crews in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Nearly 100 crews left Oklahoma last week, before Ian made landfall near Cape Coral. Following the storm, crews were first placed in Punta Gorda. There were 125,000 customers without power in this area following the storm.
“Punta Gorda is closer to the eye of hurricane so there is more damage than the other areas. We’re seeing very large trees uprooted and the storm took down multiple poles. There is a lot of the work where we have to use specialized equipment to get to the area,” OG&E Manager of Distribution Construction and Storm Response Lead Chad Guthrie said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, just 75,000 customers are without power.
“We have made great progress and are working hard restoring power to many customers every day. We keep getting more work because everyone is really impressed with our work ethic and level of expertise. It’s great that we’ve been able to energize many Florida customers,” Guthrie said. “I’d like to thank the team that we brought down - each one from the leadership team to the linemen to the mechanics, it takes all of us to make this work.”
OG&E crews are expected to return to Oklahoma this weekend.