TAMPA, Fla. — The effort to restore power is ongoing in Tampa Bay as hundreds of thousands of people in the area are still without service.
At the crack of dawn Saturday, dozens of crews with TECO took off from Raymond James Stadium to continue restoring power to Hillsborough County.
It’s something contractors working under TECO like Justen Fisher have been a part of since Milton arrived.
“Today we come in with our game plan,” he said. “We grab all our material if we need extra wire, connectors for transformers.”
Fisher said they have and will continue to see a devastated community.
As they drive around the county, he said they do what they can to help, but it’s what’s been offered by those who’ve lost so much that amazes him.
“It’s humbling to see a tree through somebody’s house and they’re coming out to you, offering you food and snacks and water when they got a tree ripping through their house,” he said.
Fixing everyone’s power is not a quick process.
TECO said Saturday’s goal is to restore as many customers' power as possible as well as core infrastructure.
Fisher said everyone is doing the best they can.
“Just be patient,” he said. “Give us time and stay safe. Stay out of the work zones. Let the guys and the women do their thing, and we’ll get it back up as quickly as we can.”
TECO is targeting Thursday to have most power restored to Hillsborough County.
Its 1,500 workers have been staying in hotels since Milton arrived, but now, they have mobile sleep units to use as they work to restore power.