A ten-person Entegrus crew continues to help restore power in Florida after Hurricane Irma.
Gary Aitken is leading the crew and says they were in the Tampa area last week and are now helping Naples get its power back. Aitken says they arrived to see considerable damage from the storm.
"Naples is hit hard. There's a lot of flooded neighbourhoods that have three feet of water in areas. A lot of downed trees and building and house damage," says Aitken.
An Entegrus crew continues helping to restore power in Florida after Hurricane Irma. Sept 20, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Entegrus)
The Entegrus crew arrived in Florida on September 14 to a hero's welcome and will return home on September 25.
Aitken says his crew is working daily from 6am until 10pm.
"There are thousands of lineman down here. So, where we are here in Naples, as of this morning there are 44,000 customers left to get back on with their power," Aitken says.
Aitken says the heat and humidity is almost unbearable at more than 35 C.
"Everybody is drinking tons of water, 15 to 20 bottles of water a day. When we first got down here, it really tired out the boys. We're getting adjusted to that temperature right now but it's very hot down here with the humidity for sure," says Aitken.
The crew from Entegrus is working with other utility members from St. Thomas Energy, Essex Powerlines, Bluewater Power, and Erie Thames Powerlines. Aitken says of all the utilities from around the area, there are 18 crew members working to restore power.