Wisconsin utility crews heading to Florida to assist in Ian repair efforts

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Florida’s public utility companies are asking for help and Wisconsin is answering the call.

“Immediately once we got that call, we wrangled up our crew and said ‘yep, let’s try to send as many people as we possibly can,” Stoughton utilities director Jill Weiss said. “Reached out to membership because it’s public power, so those communities were able to respond and provide assistance.”

Municipal electric utilities of Wisconsin is sending a crew of 41 people to Kissimmee, Florida.

Workers from 22 different Wisconsin communities will be assisting with recovery efforts to restore power.

Crews could be down in Florida for up to three weeks.

“We plan to just plan ahead,” Weiss said. “We said ‘let’s plan for three weeks,’ but we’ve been told probably 10-14 days.”

After being on the receiving end in years past, Weiss says her team is excited for the opportunity to give back.

“Anything we can do to help,” Weiss said. “I mean, that’s what’s great about public utilities. We team together and help out wherever we can. And again, we want to pay it forward, but we’ve also received a lot of help over the years, so it’s a great opportunity to give back.”

Crews are expected to depart for Florida at 7 a.m. Thursday.

From there, they will drive down to Tennessee and await further instructions before making the drive to Kissimmee.

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