Duke Energy mobilizes crews to restore power after Hurricane Debby hits Florida

Hurricane Debby hit Florida Monday morning, as Duke Energy mobilized more than 3,000 power line technicians, vegetation workers, damage assessors and support personnel to respond to it.

The storm produced heavy rainfall, strong winds and localized flooding as some 10 inches of rain fell in some parts of the state.

As of 1:00 p.m. ET, some 140,000 Duke Energy customers were without power and roughly 300,000 were without power throughout the state.

The storm made landfall at around 7:00 a.m. ET as a Category 1 hurricane near the panhandle and the so-called Big Bend. At the time it hit Florida, it had 80 mph winds. By 11:00 a.m., it was downgraded to a tropical storm. NBC News reported that four people had died from the storm as of Monday afternoon.

Most of the outages were in the area of the panhandle and Central Florida. The Tallasee, Gainesville, and Tampa regions had the most outages.

Duke Energy Florida got assistance from Midwest operations in Kentucky and Ohio. The company said it will make repairs and restore power as soon as weather conditions safely allow. Staging crews and resources are set up near areas that were affected. This allows the company to restore power quickly and safely once the storm passes.

“We are bringing additional crews to Florida today and will continue to adjust our resources as the storm approaches,” Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director, said. “We encourage our customers to heed their local officials’ warnings, take necessary precautions and prioritize safety before, during and after the storm.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 61 counties. He mobilized some 3,000 National Giard members to help with cleanup and safety efforts.

Duke Energy encourages its customers to report outages by texting OUT to 57801. They can also report outages online at Duke Energy’s website or through the mobile app. In addition, they can call 800.228.8485.

Duke Energy Florida supplies electricity to 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

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