Published On: Sat, Nov 7th, 2020

Florida Power & Light Company Prepares for Eta

FPL urges customers to prepare for outages

 As Eta strengthens and moves closer to the state, FPL is finalizing preparations to restore service safely and as quickly as possible and urges customers to prepare now for possible power outages. 

 “This has been an unprecedented hurricane season as it tied with 2005 for the most named storms in recorded history and it is not yet over, as Eta is expected to strengthen into a strong tropical storm as it moves closer to South Florida,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “FPL has deployed personnel and contractors five times this hurricane season to provide mutual assistance for hurricanes that struck outside our service area. In fact, 1,700 of our dedicated employees and contractors just returned home after restoring power in six southeastern states after Hurricane Zeta, and are now preparing to safely and quickly restore any outages caused by Eta.”

FPL anticipates a large portion of its service area from the Treasure Coast to Miami-Dade County and areas throughout SW Florida could feel the effects of Eta and potentially experience power outages. Tropical storm-force winds and heavy rainfall is expected to extend a significant distance from the center of Eta, causing trees, other vegetation and flying debris to potentially damage FPL equipment. 

“While the ultimate track and intensity of Eta still remains uncertain, we are actively preparing for anything this storm might bring our way,” added Silagy. “This is the second storm of the season to directly affect the southern peninsula. Storms are nature’s way of clearing debris and it’s likely that flying debris and falling trees will cause outages and restoration challenges. Following severe weather, our crews must cut away trees and other vegetation that have fallen into power lines, or that are in the way, to find and fix damage safely and as quickly as possible.

If you see crews at work, please remember to maintain proper social distancing for your safety and theirs.”As a reminder, most counties in the storm’s path will suspend trash and debris pickup before a storm. Please do not trim trees now, as high winds can turn cut branches into dangerous, flying debris. However, if you already have trimmed trees, please help to prevent outages by tying down or securing loose branches or other debris. In response to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our plan includes many precautionary measures for the safety of our customers and our restoration workforce. This includes daily health screenings for restoration personnel and adjusting the layout of staging sites where large numbers of restoration workers gather to allow for as much social distancing as possible and adding more micro-staging sites.  

“We know that our customers are counting on us now more than ever,” said Silagy. “We are mobilizing and pre-positioning our restoration workforce, so these brave men and women can quickly start working as soon as it is safe to do so. We are requestingadditional restoration personnel from the industry to support us as we have supported them. Our commitment to our customers has not changed despite COVID-19: We will work around the clock and we won’t stop until we get the lights back on for every single customer.”  

FPL urges customers to review their family and business emergency plans, keep a close watch on the development of the storm and heed warnings and evacuation orders by local, state and federal elected officials. Preparation and safety tips are available at FPL.com/Storm.

FPL is finalizing preparations for the impact of Eta: They’re mobilizing and pre-positioning their restoration workforce, so they can quickly start working as soon as it is safe to do so.

Nearly 10,000 personnel are committed to the effort and they are working to secure more.  They have reallocated additional resources within the company to help speed the restoration effort.  They’ve prepared to position their crews at more than 20 sites throughout the service area to speed restoration.  FPL is coordinating its response with county and state emergency operations centers.  

Customers can download the FPL app for on-the-go, instant and secure access to their accounts. Customers can report or get the latest information on an outage. The app is available for download in the iOS App Store and Google Play. To quickly download the FPL app, text the word “App” to MyFPL (69375). Customers also can sign up for storm updates by texting the word “Join” to MyFPL (69375).  

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