Florida Power & Light Company
Media Line: 561-694-4442
@FPL_Newsroom
- FPL is anticipating the potential for widespread outages throughout its service area with significant impacts along Florida’s east coast - We have prepositioned personnel to begin power restoration as soon as it’s safe; working to secure additional personnel - COVID-19 will create challenges that may ultimately delay restoration - We urge customers to finalize safety precautions and prepare to be without power
(Black PR Wire) JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) is urging customers to prepare for extended power outages as Hurricane Isaias nears the Florida coastline. Based upon the current forecast path, intensity and FPL's historical modeling, the company estimates a significant number of customers could experience power outages due to this dangerous and damaging storm.
“As the first bands of Hurricane Isaias begin to impact Florida’s east coast, we understand the anxiety many of our customers are feeling and want to reassure them that we’re ready to respond during these unprecedented times,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “We have a restoration workforce of more than 10,000 and are working to secure additional personnel. While we’re grateful that we have been able to secure this sizeable workforce to respond to Isaias, we expect that the additional safety precautions they must take may slow their progress. We take our responsibility and our duty to serve customers in good weather and bad, very seriously. Our commitment to our customers has not changed despite COVID-19: We will work around the clock and we won’t stop until we get the lights back on for every single customer.”
FPL anticipates that a large portion of its service area may feel the effects of Isaias and experience power outages because of tropical storm-force winds extending more than 175 miles from the center of the storm. Areas of more extensive damage may be caused by high winds and possible tornadoes, resulting in excess vegetation and debris that are anticipated to cause restoration challenges. Following severe weather, our crews must cut away trees and other vegetation that have fallen into power lines, or that are in the way, to find and fix damage safely and as quickly as possible. Customers are urged to take the time now to prepare for potentially prolonged outages or more than one outage throughout the duration of the storm.
“Whether Isaias remains a hurricane or is downgraded to a tropical storm, please know this is a powerful force of nature with far-reaching effects,” Silagy said. “This storm is now tracking closer to our coastline and further south than originally anticipated, which will bring high winds and severe weather bands much closer to some of our more densely populated areas. We urge our customers to complete their final preparations, prepare for outages and make safety their highest priority. We’d like to thank our state and local officials and emergency support personnel for their close coordination and our customers in advance for their patience with what we know will be a challenging next several days. Please know that as Isaias moves north along the coast, we’ll work continuously, as long as winds are below 35 MPH and conditions are safe.”
In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, our plan includes many precautionary measures for the safety of our customers and our restoration workforce. This includes daily health screenings for restoration personnel and adjusting the layout of staging sites where large numbers of restoration workers gather to allow for as much social distancing as possible and adding more micro-staging sites.
FPL urges customers to review their family and business emergency plans, keep a close watch on the development of the storm and heed warnings and evacuation orders by local, state and federal elected officials. Preparation and safety tips are available at FPL.com/Storm.
What we’re doing
At FPL, we’re finalizing preparations for the impact of Isaias:
- We’re mobilizing and pre-positioning our restoration workforce, so they can quickly start working as soon as it is safe to do so. More than 10,000 personnel are already dedicated to the effort, and we are working to secure thousands more.
- We have brought in more than 100 personnel from our sister company Gulf Power.
- We have secured more than 2,900 additional external personnel and are working to secure more.
- We’ve prepared to position our crews at 16 sites throughout our service area to speed restoration.
- We are coordinating our response with county and state emergency operations centers.
In the wake of a hurricane, we know you need as much information as possible so you can make decisions for you and your family. Every hurricane is different, but our goal is to get you accurate information as soon as it is available. As Isaias makes its way north along Florida's coast and exits each region, our restoration will follow the path of the storm. We will be out in force assessing damage and restoring service. We must get a solid assessment of the full extent of the damage before we can provide regional estimates of when power will be restored. We pledge to communicate increasingly specific information as soon as we are able.
We will share the best, most up-to-date information we have as quickly as possible through traditional media, social media, FPL.com and the FPL app.
Additional resources
Customers can download the FPL app for on-the-go, instant and secure access to their accounts. Customers can report or get the latest information on an outage. The app is available for download in the iOS App Store and Google Play. To quickly download the FPL app, text the word “App” to MyFPL (69375). Customers also can sign up for storm updates by texting the word “Join” to MyFPL (69375).
How to stay informed
FPL communicates restoration information to customers frequently through the news media and the following resources:
- FPL website: com
- Twitter: com/insideFPL
- Facebook: com/FPLconnect
- FPL Power Tracker: com/powertracker
- FPL app: Download from the App Store or Google Play, or text the word “App” to MyFPL (69375)
# # #