Convoy of Wisconsin utility workers leaves to help Florida recover from Hurricane Ian
MADISON, Wis. — Dozens of Wisconsin utility workers left the Badger State Thursday morning to help with disaster recovery efforts in Florida after Hurricane Ian left significant destruction in its wake.
The convoy of 23 bucket trucks and a tree trimming truck left for Kissimmee, Florida. Utility workers from across Wisconsin will spend at least two weeks — and possibly as long as a month — helping the Sunshine State rebuild after the Category 4 storm made landfall near Fort Myers Wednesday afternoon.
Michael Czuprynko, the manager of safety services for Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin, said the convoy expects to get to Florida on Friday. From there, they’ll be assigned as needed, but as of Thursday morning they didn’t know exactly what work they would be doing.
Still, “a dead line is a dead line,” he said.
“There’s a lot of debris, it’s pretty catastrophic down there, and the mentality is just to help all those without utilities just to get their communities back up on power,” he said.
READ MORE: Here’s how you can help those affected by Hurricane Ian
While the Wisconsin crews only got notice they would be needed in Florida on Monday, they were ready to go that night, Czuprynko said.
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