As Hurricane Milton barreled toward Florida as a major hurricane, OUC finalized preparations to be ready for any possible impacts. Those preparations included establishing the Incident Command Center at Pershing Operations Center and staging resources and equipment for restoration and recovery efforts. Through mutual aid efforts with other utilities, OUC has also increased restoration resources five times the normal size to respond to outages, with crews coming from as far away as Michigan and Nebraska.
Hurricane Milton made landfall on the West Coast of Florida and is traveling across the peninsula along or near the I-4 corridor. Potential impacts to Central Florida include widespread power outages and flash flooding. Customers have been advised to prepare for extended outages that could last for multiple days.
During severe weather, it is important to follow these safety guidelines as the storm moves through our area:
- Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging.
- Consider all power lines – as well as trees, limbs and anything else in contact with power lines – energized and dangerous.
- A downed wire that is sparking, smoking or burning is a hazardous condition. Please call 911.
- Stay away from pooled water and flooded streets, and do not let children or pets go outside without supervision.
- Keep in mind that floodwaters can be energized by downed powerlines or other electrical equipment, potentially leading to serious shock.
- When it comes to water, uprooted trees can also impact water lines and cause outages. OUC will notify customers of any boil-water notices. For water safety tips, click here.
- If your electric vehicle (EV) becomes is submerged during the storm, do not attempt to charge or drive it until it has been checked by a technician. EVs that have been in water for an extended period are at risk of battery damage, which could lead to leaking fluids, toxic and flammable gas, and even fire.
For up-to-date information throughout the storm, customers are encouraged to follow OUC’s social media channels and visit OUC’s outage map:
- X/Twitter: @oucreliableone
- Facebook: Facebook.com/OUCthereliableone
- Instagram: @oucreliableone
- Storm Center: OUC.com/stormcenter
- Outage Map: outagemap.ouc.com