Page 47 - Utility Workers News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The city is prepared because they knew they would have this problem. the mayor already called in reinforcements. when we're talking about first responders, we don't even need to just talk about emergency personnel like police and firemen. after a hurricane here, first responders include utility workers, people here trying to bring the electricity back. that's why mayor andrew gillum called in 500 to 600 additional electrical workers to be prepared for after the storm. they'll be needed here. that 111,000 customers who went without power that's something like 90% of all the electrical services ...

A different mission and got word that this thing was looking like it was going to make its way our way, and immediately got back here. between that evening and today we really had to ready ourselves rather quickly. on the good side, i will tell you in my community -- i mean we felt really prepared for this storm event. we were able to very quickly get over 100, 150 utility workers from across the state of florida and really across the country, as far away as nebraska, here on the ground, ready. these are the same crews that we're going to deploy in the morning to deal with some of the reconnec...

This storm in your community? >> yeah, thanks so much, wolf. coincidentally, i'm actually out in a utility vehicle right now with some of our -- one of our utility workers as we take observation of what the damage looks like, particularly to our electric utility system. what we're seeing is there are trees down everywhere. that really remains our biggest threat. as just reported, these bands of wind come through, and because the ground is saturated, you know, trees come down. it doesn't take many to disrupt the power grid system. we've got right now, wolf, about 60,000 customers in our area th...

Feet. most people have heeded the mandatory evacuations in low-lying areas, for those who decided to hunker down and wait and see what was going on, their window of opportunity of leaving is rapidly closing. here is what governor scott had to say about that this morning. >> if you are an inland county you may have one last chance to seek shelter. but only do so if local officials say it's safe. again, if you made the choice not to evacuate, please find a place to shelter, seek a place of refuge. but if it is not safe to leave your home, don't leave. the worst thing you can do now is leave and ...

The utility workers are taking assessment and stock of the damage. and starting at about 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning they're start with the restoration process to get our community back up and going. >> let me talk to you about the politics of climate -- i know you're running for governor. i think about the water level coming up within a few feet of miami, how your state is in danger by climate change. is this regular weather we're getting now? category 4? your thoughts? >> no. listen, it's stuff i've been asked, with the panhandle caught by surprise here. sunday i was in miami, i was going fro...