Crews heading to help with Hurricane Ian make pit stop in Roanoke

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Hurricane Ian is expected to make landfall through the heart of Florida and up into Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina in the middle to late part of this week. Monday, Atlantic Power Constructors made a pit stop in Roanoke on their way to Georgia to help with the hurricane’s aftermath.

“We’re a crew of just about 40 people. That includes mechanics, some supervisors, mostly linemen, as you can see from the bucket trucks. We have about 16 bucket trucks with us now, we’ve got a few more following just behind us from Maine,” said Ryan Rudolph, director of safety for Atlantic Power Constructors.

Rudolph said many in the crew are seasoned veterans when it comes to helping in natural disasters. They focus mainly on getting the power back to affected communities.

“We look to restore major transmission lines first and get big things online such as hospitals, police and fire, so that emergency responders can go out and do their job. Then we start working our way down the system into distribution and try to get on all the homes.”

Though they are based in Maine, the crews are always happy to answer the call when needed.

“It’s such a good feeling to know that we’re helping, and everybody along the way is really grateful to the work that we’re doing, and we get to meet new people and see new places and know that we’re making a difference.”

APC will leave Roanoke Tuesday morning and head to Georgia to prepare for Hurricane Ian’s impacts.

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