UNDATED (WKZO AM/FM) — The rain that fell in Southwest Michigan yesterday afternoon was the remnants from the outer bands of Hurricane Irma. It’s hard to imagine that the same weather system caused so much damage elsewhere.
Consumers Energy reports they have sent another 130 line crewmen and contractors south.This group is headed to Atlanta, Georgia to address power outages there. They shipped out yesterday.
The Edison Institute estimates that between Hurricane Harvey and Irma, over 60-thousand utility employees have left their home states to try to restore all the damage.
Peter Robbins with Florida Power and Light says that about 20,000 of them are working for his utility right now.
He says they have already restored power to about three million customers who needed quick fixes to get the power back. Some parts of the western portion of the state will require complete rebuilds from the power plants to customer homes.
Over four million customers in Florida remain without power, and may not see the lights come back on for weeks, especially in the keys, which were totally devastated.
Red Cross Chapters in Southwest Michigan are planning one-day “Zero to Hero” trainingSessions over the next month, because they know they will be sending volunteers south for some time to come.
The first will be at the Berrien County Chapter this Sunday.
Kalamazoo’s Chapter will host volunteer trainees a week from Friday, the 22nd.
Battle Creek will hold one at the First United Methodist Church on September 30th.
Allegan residents can get the training at the First Baptist Church on October 6th.
