10 September, 2017
Considering Hurricane Irma will encompass the entire Florida peninsula as it makes its way North, Duke is anticipating and preparing to handle damage and outages from flooding and high winds. Though much can change, the National Hurricane Center on Thursday predicted Irma's center passing to the west of the Charlotte metro area early Tuesday, when it would be a weaker tropical storm.
As for the people working after the storm, Mosier says duke energy is scheduling their crews. "If you must get out of the auto due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the vehicle and land on both feet", Duke Energy corporate communications representative Dave Scanzoni said.
GMD General Manager George Martin said the agency is securing materials at all construction sites, topping off its generators at treatment plants and administrative offices and running through vulnerability assessments for critical infrastructure.
On Saturday, Duke restoration crews from the Midwest are scheduled to travel to a staging area in Georgia, where they will receive further instructions about where to go from there depending on Irma's track, Pettit said. "Dominion Energy and our customers have benefited from other utilities' help in the past and we have offered help to others in times of need".
"We have 100 years of history of dealing with storm damage of all kinds", Mosier said.
The co-op has also been double checking inventory and gassing up trucks to prepare.
Make sure to report any downed or sagging lines you see and don't approach them because they could still be energized.
"We've improved response times", said Miles.
Abbeville Public Utilities can be reached at 864-366-4518.
The company said the first thing to have is a first aid kit and some battery operated equipment is necessary if the power goes out, like an LED battery light to hang up on the wall in your home.
"We're all communicating back and forth on what's going on so when somebody does have problems, everybody knows who needs what", Hedden said. "So we work together as a team and do what has to be done".