LES crews working in Florida after Hurricane Idalia leaves thousands without power

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Lincoln Electric System crews have been down in Florida helping restore power after Hurricane Idalia hit last week.

On Wednesday, the hurricane left hundreds of thousands of homes without power.  Less than 24 hours later, two LES crews started driving to Live Oak, Florida.

Mason Wigle and Ken Morrison, first-class line technicians for LES, said Monday that the storms were extremely destructive.

“Trees down everywhere, power lines laying across the road,” Morrison said. “Buildings, roofs ripped off.”

The power district LES is assisting serves over 28,000 customers, and Morrison said around 95% of their customers are without power.

“It’s just a lot of destruction down here,” Wigle said. “It’s going to take a lot of work to get this backup.”

It could be another two weeks before power is restored in the area, and LES crews will stay until the work is finished.

About a year ago, LES crews were in Florida after Hurricane Ian hit.

But Morrison and Wigle said this is the first time they have left Nebraska to help with rebuilding efforts.

Both said the people of Florida have been thankful for their work.

“Honking, waving, saying thank you, giving thumbs up, bringing us cookies, bringing us food, bringing us drinks,” Wigle said. “It’s all the time, they’re just so grateful.”