Orlando Makes a Quick Recovery After Hurricane Milton

As Hurricane Milton swirled in the Gulf of Mexico, at one point becoming one of the most powerful October hurricanes ever, OUC personnel prepared for what was expected to be a very destructive storm in the Central Florida area.

After making landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast near Siesta Key at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 9, Milton made its way inland. The storm’s track put the “centerline” just south of Orlando, with the eye of the now Category 2 storm passing through OUC’s service territory during the early morning, Thursday, October 10. The highest wind gust recorded was 86 miles per hour.

While Milton didn’t have as severe an impact on the Orlando area as expected, fallen trees and other vegetation brought down power lines and wreaked havoc throughout the system, causing widespread outages. While localized flooding occurred, water service was not significantly impacted.

Of OUC’s 282,000 customer accounts, 89,070 were without power Thursday morning, October 10.

Thanks to the efforts of OUC damage assessors, tree trimmers, and line technicians, as well as mutual aid crews from around the country, almost all customers in OUC service territory had power restored by midnight, Saturday, October 12.

The speed of restoration is a testament to the resilience of OUC’s electrical system and ongoing storm hardening efforts. Also a major factor was the preparedness of OUC personnel and the organization-wide planning that occurs year-round for responding to hurricanes and other severe weather.

OUC Gets Ready for Milton

Before Milton’s arrival, OUC prepared materials and equipment at its facilities, including power line, transformers, poles and more. OUC bucket trucks and other vehicles were positioned to respond quickly after the storm passed, with line crews ready to go.

Other OUC team members throughout the organization went into “storm mode,” including customer service representatives prepping to field outage calls and support personnel coordinating meals for hardworking crews and lodging for out-of-town mutual aid workers.

Due to ongoing restoration efforts from Hurricane Helene in Florida’s Big Bend area and in communities throughout the southeast, mutual aid assistance wasn’t as readily available as it had been for previous storms.

However, OUC was able to call in crews from as far as California, Michigan, and Nebraska, among many other states. In all, 387 line technicians, 129 tree trimmers and 72 safety assessors came from 18 states to assist OUC crews. OUC increased restoration resources to five times the normal size to respond to outages caused by the storm.

This effort to bring in outside assistance was coordinated in cooperation with the Florida Municipal Electric Association. Mutual aid is common practice as utilities in unaffected areas send crews to assist in places that have suffered from a hurricane or other severe weather. Just the week before, OUC sent a 17-member crew to restore power in Williston and Gainesville after Hurricane Helene.

How OUC Responded to Milton

Once Milton’s winds slowed, about 8 a.m., the OUC’s Safety team determined it was safe for damage assessors and power restoration crews to begin restoration efforts.

Prioritization was focused on restoring power for critical services, such as hospitals, wastewater plants, fire and police stations, and other emergency locations. Then, crews made repairs to restore power to the maximum number of customers in the most efficient manner.

Within 24 hours, power was restored to 65% of impacted customers.

As tree trimmers and line crews restored power, OUC’s Customer Service and social media teams worked around the clock to respond to outage reports, and other customer questions and issues. In all OUC team members handled nearly 11,000 calls, more than 1,000 emails and 2,700 social media messages during Milton.

By midnight, Saturday, October 12, nearly all customers were restored, except those at homes with damage to customer-owned electrical equipment.

Remember – Hurricane Season Is Not Over

Hurricane season officially ends November 30, so it’s important to remain vigilant. Make sure you have your family’s emergency plan in place, update your contact info with OUC if necessary, and have emergency supplies at hand – which could include anything you did not use during Hurricane Milton.