SHREVEPORT, La. — SWEPCO has deployed 115 employees and contractors from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas to help Florida Power & Light restore electricity following Hurricane Isaias, the utility said in an Oct. 15 release.
The deployment began Oct. 9 and includes lineworkers, troublemen, supervisors and support personnel. Crews are assessing damage, replacing utility poles and wire, and restoring service to homes and businesses in the Florida Panhandle.
Crews from Shreveport and Natchitoches, Louisiana, and Longview, Texas, are working in Pace. Personnel from Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the Texarkana area are supporting restoration in Milton. The SWEPCO team is staying at a base camp in Pensacola alongside utility workers from across the country.
“Every storm is different,” said Chris Andreolli, SWEPCO’s manager of distribution services for the Fayetteville operating area and leader of the Florida deployment. “The conditions, the terrain and the damage can all vary. But what doesn’t change is our crews’ commitment to the communities we’re serving. The team is in good spirits, working safely and focused on helping people get back to normal.”
Kevin Greene, a SWEPCO troubleman from the Longview area, said crews have encountered downed power lines, broken poles and fallen trees.
“The first step is assessing everything so crews know where to begin. It’s a lot of damage,” Greene said.
Greene joined SWEPCO in 1999 as a fleet mechanic, moved to a transmission line crew in 2006 and later became a distribution lineman. He estimates he has responded to nearly 30 storms nationwide, including nearly 10 assignments in Florida.
He is also helping mentor newer lineworkers during the deployment.
“It’s a good group of guys,” Greene said. “They’re learning and working hard. I just take them under my wing like they’re my kids and try to look out for them.”
Among those deployed is Colton Bishop, a lineworker from Nashville, Arkansas, who became a father and completed his lineman apprenticeship earlier this year. Before leaving, Bishop recorded a message for his wife and infant daughter promising to work safely and return when the assignment is complete.
SWEPCO said crews remained focused on replacing poles, rebuilding power lines and restoring service neighborhood by neighborhood.