EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – The road back to Wisconsin has gotten longer for Xcel Energy crews in the South East.
“I guess one thing too is patience, right? We all know that these things could take time and there’s lots of folks that were affected,” said Brad Polacek.
He is one of the managers that rode with the Wisconsin Xcel Energy crews to Augusta, GA from Eau Claire back on October 2nd.
The goal was to help communities there find the light after Hurricane Helene had taken it from them about two weeks ago.
“The same day were released from Georgia Power, there were a bunch of Florida utilities looking for assistance with Hurricane Milton coming through,” said Polacek. “All these days have been a blur.”
Tampa, FL is the next stop for the line workers. Hurricane Milton had put hundreds of thousands of Tampa Electric customers in the dark.
“We will just kind of see how it goes. Once we get there, we’re not gonna hurry up and rush,” said Polacek.
The line workers did not hesitate to take on the next task. However, going about it did prove to be a challenge.
“It sounds like a simple process but, for the fleet that we have, 40 linemen with support staff, probably close to 50 employees with 39 trucksm,” said Polacek. “Logistically trying to find hotels, fuel stations, for our travels while a state is under evacuation, is very very difficult.”
The energy to help the Xcel Energy crews forge ahead comes from witnessing Floridians try and recover from yet another historic weather event.
“You’re going to see both ends. You’re going to see tears of happiness, you’re going to see tears of sadness. The only thing we can do is help the best we can and hope for the best,” said Polacek.
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