Power companies assembling crews, preparing for outages ahead of Dorian

ORLANDO, Fla. — With Hurricane Dorian approaching Florida, power companies are calling for backup crews in case there is major damage in the area.

At Daytona International Speedway, hundreds of power trucks, some from as far away as Illinois, are being prepositioned ahead of Dorian.

Power companies said bigger neighborhoods are likely to be restored faster than smaller ones.

One of the factors is how many people live around you and are on the same line.

“Transmission lines, substations, those main lines that impact large numbers of customers- we're going to start addressing those right away,” said Tim Trudell, of the Orlando Utilities Commission.

The Orlando Utilities Commission said health and safety buildings will also be prioritized.

“We'll also look at police, fire stations and hospitals, critical care facilities, and then we'll work our way down to areas that impact the least number of customers and that's really how we restore power. If we can do one repair and bring 1,000 customers back, we'll do that over the repair that brings back six,” Trudell said.

“We do have 65% of our customers that are underground, 35% that have overhead lines feeding their homes. But even those underground customers, there are some overhead lines that feed underground and that can cause a problem."

The Orlando Utility Commission is working to arrange for extra help with line technicians and tree trimmers. The hope is to have those crews ready before the hurricane arrives.

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Cox Media Group