Pepco is among the D.C.-area power companies that have sent crews to help out with the restoration of utilities in Florida now that Hurricane Milton is moving out.
Late Thursday morning, about 30 workers who specialize in underground utility repairs left from a Pepco facility along Benning Road in Northeast D.C.
They’ll spend the night in Florence, South Carolina, before making their way to the Tampa area once it’s clear where they’ll be needed.
“Florida has transitioned more to underground with the amount of storms that they’re consistently seeing on their system,” said Rob Spelman, who is the senior manager of underground maintenance for Pepco. “We don’t know if it’s going to be two days, 10 days or 14 days, but the call was answered, and we have people ready to work.”
Typically, utility work after storms involves repairing downed power lines and poles, but underground repairs are usually more complicated, according to Spelman.
“What’s not visible is everything that might be affected due to the storm surge or the water or anything else that’s going on,” Spelman said. “It takes more time to diagnose.”
Volunteers had about 10 minutes to raise their hands and sign up when the call came in. Among them was Brad Cooke, who admitted some anxiety about the upcoming trip.
“Just don’t know what to expect,” he said. “You check with your family and make sure that they’ll be fine for the next couple weeks. Just kind of get a couple of things in order and make the decision.”
He saw it as an opportunity to help.
“It can be vulnerable and unpredictable, and we’re going into a system we’ve never been on before, and into a disaster zone,” he also said. “We have no idea what we’re getting into.”
It’ll be Cooke’s first time helping out in a disaster zone. Most of the workers heading south to Florida have also never signed up for trips like this before.
“We’re not down there just to restore power,” Spelman said. “We’re down there to affect lives and make a difference with the customers that are currently experiencing this disaster.”
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