TAMPA, Fla. (WPRI) — Rhode Island Energy crews have taken part in getting the lights back on for roughly two million Floridians after the damage brought on by Hurricane Milton last week.

Kevin McNamara, of Massachusetts, and Brian Madden, of West Greenwich, are both overhead line supervisors who drove from Rhode Island to Tampa to restore power to the areas that took the brunt of the storm.

“We’re putting them back up one pole at a time,” Madden said.

Hillsborough County saw the most outages in the state, with about 465,000 outages reported on Friday, but that has since shrunk to 150,000 on Monday.

McNamara said they’re seeing that progress firsthand.

“We’re getting into some of the downed poles and a little bit more of the bigger construction issues,” he said. “So we’re making a difference now.”

Yet gassing up continues to be a problem there. GasBuddy reported that 50% of gas stations in the Tampa-Sarasota area are still without fuel. The Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) estimates gas services will be restored by Tuesday or Wednesday.

And according to Tampa Electric Company , power should be restored to the final homes in Hillsborough County on Thursday.

Despite the obstacles brought on by the Category 3 storm, McNamara and Madden said there is nothing better than getting the lights back on for families who have been waiting for days.

“It’s great,” McNamara said. “They’re excited to see us, obviously, because it’s been a long time that they’re out, and it makes us feel great too.”

Kate Wilkinson ( kwilkinson@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook .

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