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Acadiana power crews heading to Florida in anticipation of Hurricane Milton
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LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- It's deja vu all over again.
Just two weeks after making the trip to Florida to help restore power in the wake of Hurricane Helene, power crews from Acadiana are heading right back in anticipation of Milton.
SLEMCO has announced that mutual-aid storm crews are headed to Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative on Florida’s West Coast. Withlacoochee Electric is headquartered in Dade City, just 40 miles north of Tampa Bay where the storm is expected to make landfall sometime late Wednesday.
Milton is now a major hurricane at Category 4 strength with 150 mph winds.
SLEMCO’s storm team consists of 30 electric line workers, including overhead and underground linemen, tree trimmers, servicemen and substation specialists, officials said. SLEMCO crews will also be bringing off-road equipment equipped to inspect and assess damage and move heavy debris or fallen trees out of work areas, according to SLEMCO Communications Coordinator Mary Laurent.
"The 2024 hurricane season has been especially challenging the last few weeks and the next few weeks won’t be any different as mutual-aid crews from all parts of the country head to Florida to assist with power restoration." Laurent said. "We know that if the situation were reversed, the electric cooperatives we are assisting now, would head our way in an instant."