Dozens of utility workers from Wisconsin left for Florida where two million people were without power by Thursday night.
The convoy of more than 40 utility workers hit the road on Thursday morning with less than a day's notice. Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin (MEUW) has been coordinating the effort as part of a mutual aid agreement.
"This isn't our first rodeo going down to Florida," Michael Czuprynko said.
Czuprynko, manager of safety services with MEUW, said Wisconsin utility workers were in Florida following Hurricane Irma just a few years ago. He went on to add this is their largest out-of-state deployment. Once crews arrive, they will be up against the elements and plenty of challenges.
"Gas. Trying to fill up the truck. So we got gas cans and all of our trucks over there too. And also supply chain issues. We don't know what they are going to be having over there for supplies for what is damaged and what they have," Czyprynko said.
Cedarburg Light and Water Utility sent two utility workers. The City of Plymouth sent six workers including linemen and tree trimmers.
"We got an overwhelming response within minutes from the community about how proud they were that we were sending people down to help," said Ben Collins, general manager at Cedarburg Light and Water Utility.
"We're part of the partnership, but I think it also speaks to the quality of our linemen and the quality of work that they do," said Tim Blakeslee, city administrator and utility manager for the City of Plymouth.
The deployment can be unpredictable, but it is one that Wisconsin was eager to join.
"Takes some resources away from us, but we are happy to do it because if something happens here we want people to help us as well," Collins said.
Crews are expected to be deployed for at least two weeks.
