Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TimesAt Little Haiti Hardware and Lumber in Miami, owner Jean Rameau is already exhausted by the rush of people coming for supplies Sept. 7, 2017.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesA tree branch felled by tropical storm winds narrowly misses parked cars as Hurricane Irma hits the southern part of the state on Sept. 10, 2017, in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Joe Burbank / Orlando SentinelShoppers wait in line for the arrival of a shipment of water during preparations for the impending arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Gerald Herbert / APKelly McClenthen returns to see the flood damage to her home with her boyfriend Daniel Harrison in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Bonita Springs, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2017.
Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via APPolice block a road leading to the oceanfront in Hollywood, Fla., on Sept. 9, 2017, as Hurricane Irma approaches the state.
Sean Rayford / Getty ImagesHolly Lands, left, Mindy Lands, and Morgan Lindsey walk down their street inundated by flood waters caused by Hurricane Irma September 12, 2017 near Palatka, Florida.
Albert Cesare / APTrucks line up outside Maxwell Air Force base to prepare to load Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers waiting on base to take to Hurricane Irma affected areas on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala.
Carlos Giusti / APMen remove debris off a road in the Cole Bay community in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, in St. Martin, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017.
Paul Chiasson / APA man walks along the beach with heavy winds and threatening skies in Hollywood, Fla., as Hurricane Irma approaches the state on Sept. 9, 2017.
David Goldman / APCaitlin Raymond, 12, checks on her cats as she leaves with her family from her grandmother's fourth floor apartment where they rode out Hurricane Irma to return to their lowlying home a mile away in Marco Island, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2017.
Marcus Yam / Los Angeles TimesLisette Toroella and Tatiana Morera play on the beach as storm clouds approach in Miami Beach.
Spencer Platt / Getty ImagesA man walks into a 7-Eleven, one of the few stores open two days after Hurricane Irma swept through the area on September 12, 2017 in Cape Coral, Florida.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesWinston Mora, left, and Gus Sousa put hurricane shutters on a business as they prepare for Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017 in Miami.
Eve Edelheit / APFirefighters Dohnovan Simpson, from left, and Jacob McGovern carry Dolores Gevaza, 83, across the courtyard in the rain at John Hopkins Middle School on Sept. 10, 2017, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The school filled classrooms and hallways with people evacuating.
Chris O'Meara / APBuilding owner Catharine Taylor Woods, front, and Jessica Newman, of the City of Wauchula clean up broke glass after an awning blew off in Hurricane Irma and broke several windows early Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, in Wauchula, Fla.
Wilfredo Lee / APRecently planted palm trees lie strewn across the road as Hurricane Irma passes by on Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami Beach, Fla.
Gerald Herbert / APTodd Hart looks at the damage to his destroyed home in the Naples Estates mobile home park, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, in Naples, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesA boat is washed on shore at the Watson Island marina as Hurricane Irma passed through the area on Sept. 10, 2017 in Miami, Florida.
Gerald Herbert / APCherie Ethier sits in her mobile home with her pets surrounded by floodwater, in the Marco Naples RV Resort in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, in Naples, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017.
Brian Blanco / Getty ImagesShelly Hughes reacts as she gets her first look at the inside of her flooded camper at the Peace River Campground in the wake of Hurricane Irma on September 12, 2017 in Arcadia, Florida.
Chris O'Meara / APThis photo shows Duval Street on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Key West, Fla.
Chris O'Meara / APA sailboat is pushed up between two buildings in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Key West, Fla.
Mark Wilson / Getty ImagesPolice patrol along Ocean Drive as Miami starts to feel the effects of the approaching Hurricane Irma on Sept. 9, 2017.
Marc Serota / Getty ImagesBoats that can't be evacuated are tied off in canals to protect them from Hurricane Irma on in Key Largo, Florida. The entire Florida Keys are under a mandatory evacuation notice as Hurricane Irma approaches the low-lying chain of islands south of Miami.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesBoats ride out Hurricane Irma in a marina on Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami.
David Goldman / APA person walks through a street lined with debris and fallen trees as Hurricane Irma passes through Naples, Fla., on Sept. 10, 2017.
Spencer Platt / Getty ImagesA submerged mobile home community stands in Fort Myers two days after Hurricane Irma swept through the area on September 12, 2017 in Fort Myers Florida.
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty ImagesTwo men stand on the beach as winds and rain in the outer bands of Hurricane Irma arrive in Miami Beach, Fla., on Sept. 9, 2017.
Joel Antonio Colon / APStorm damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in the Cole Bay community of St. Martin. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean, leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees.
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty ImagesHeavy winds and rain from Hurricane Irma are seen in Miami on Sept. 10, 2017.
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty ImagesDogs sit inside their cages as hundreds of people gather in a pet-friendly emergency shelter at the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center in Miami on Sept. 8, 2017, ahead of Hurricane Irma.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images\A boat is seen washed ashore at the Dinner Key marina after Hurricane Irma passed through the area on September 11, 2017 in Miami, Florida.
David Goldman / APPam trees stand ripped of their fronds in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Marco Island, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2017.
Sean Rayford / Getty ImagesPeople use a boat and four wheeler to navigate flood waters caused by Hurricane Irma Sept. 12, 2017 near Palatka, Florida.
Michael Snyder / APKelby Schweickerrt, of Destin, Fla., grabs some gallon jugs of drinking water from the shelves at the Target store in Destin on Sept. 5, 2017.
Al Diaz/Miami Herald via APZookeeper Ryan Martinez leads an Indian white-rumped vulture into a crate as animals are moved into a shelter at the Zoo Miami in preparation for Hurricane Irma on Sept. 9, 2017, in Miami.
Gerald Herbert / APA man returns to his flooded home in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Bonita Springs, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2017.
Wilfredo Lee / APBoats, some partially submerged, float in a canal in the wake of Hurricane Irma, Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, in Key Largo, Fla.
Wilfredo Lee / APFlamingos and roseate spoonbills, left foreground, share a temporary enclosure in a hurricane-resistant structure within the Miami zoo on Sept. 9, 2017.
Mike Stocker / APPeople observe flooded Brickell Avenue in Miami on Sept. 10, 2017, as Hurricane Irma passes.
Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty ImagesA damaged house is seen in a flooded street at the Enchanted Shores manufactured home park in Naples, Florida, on September 11, 2017 after Hurricane Irma hit Florida.
Gerald Herbert / APPeople tend to a car that flipped over on Cape Coral Parkway during Hurricane Irma, in Cape Coral, Fla., on Sept. 10, 2017.
Brian Blanco / Getty ImagesWater from the nearby Peace River floods the Peace River Campground in the wake of Hurricane Irma on September 12, 2017 in Arcadia, Florida.
David Goldman / APA mobile home community is flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Everglades City, Fla., Monday, Sept. 11, 2017.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesA person walks through a flooded street in the Brickell area of downtown Miami as Hurricane Irma passes through Sept. 10, 2017.
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TimesThousands wait Saturday to enter a storm shelter set up at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla., south of Fort Myers.
Alan Diaz / APMotorists head north of Key Largo, Fla., on U.S. 1 in anticipation of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesLarge waves produced by Hurricane Irma crash into the end of Anglins Fishing Pier on Sept. 10, 2017, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesA message reading "You Don't Scare Us Irma" is written on plywood being used to cover the windows of a building as people prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 8, 2017 in Miami Beach, Fla.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesHigh winds blow through Brickell Avenue as Hurricane Irma arrives in Miami on Sept. 10, 2017.
David Goldman / APMary Della Ratta, 94, sits in a shelter Sept. 10, 2017, after evacuating her home in Naples, Fla., with the help of police ahead of Hurricane Irma. "I'm afraid of what's going to happen. I don't know what I'll find when I go home," said Della Ratta, whose husband died 10 years ago. "I have nobody. I'm all alone in this world."
Curtis Compton / Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionAn elderly man drys out his clothes preparing to bed down for the night at the Red Cross shelter in the Albany Civic Center to ride out Hurricane Irma on Sept. 10, 2017, in Albany, Ga.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesA vehicle passes downed palm trees and two cyclists attempt to ride as Hurricane Irma passed through the area on Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami Beach, Florida.
Chris O'Meara / APA damaged home sits in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Key West, Fla.
Gerald Herbert / APRalph Bullock kicks up twisted sheet metal in the Hitching Post RV Park, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, in Naples, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017.
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TimesFrancesca DeLuca, 20, will be waiting for 10 hours for her flight back to Milan. She had been visiting a friend in Miami by herself, but the area where she was staying is under mandatory evacuation.
Joe Burbank / Orlando SentinelDrivers wait in line for gasoline at the Costco in Altamonte Springs, Fla., ahead of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017.
Brian Blanco / Getty ImagesResidents inspect the extreme receding water in Tampa Bay, Fla., ahead of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 10, 2017.
Wilfredo Lee / APA car drives around a tree downed by winds from Hurricane Irma on Sept. 9, 2017, in Golden Beach, Fla.
Alan Diaz / APA beachgoer walks by a boarde-up restaurant in anticipation of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 9, 2017, in the South Beach area of Miami Beach, Fla.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesA surfer hits big waves in Miami Beach ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 9, 2017.
Brian Blanco / Getty ImagesWater from the nearby Peace River floods the Peace River Campground in the wake of Hurricane Irma on September 12, 2017 in Arcadia, Florida.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesThe Miami skyline is seen as the outer bands of Hurricane Irma start to reach Florida on Sept. 9, 2017.
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TimesRita Peummel, green dress, and hundreds of others wait in line Sept. 8, 2017, at Home Depot in Miami to get supplies to board up their homes ahead of Hurricane Irma. Police were on the scene to keep things orderly.
Michael Sechler / APThis photo provided by Michael Sechler shows a stranded manatee in Manatee County, Fla., on Sept. 10, 2017. The mammal was stranded after waters receded from the Florida bay as Hurricane Irma approached.
Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty ImagesTwo retirees ride tricycles through a flooded street at the Enchanted Shores manufactured home park in Naples, Florida, on September 11, 2017 after Hurricane Irma hit Florida.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesPeople walk past a building where the roof was blown off by Hurricane Irma on Sept. 10, 2017 in Miami.
Will Dickey/The Florida Times-Union via APCots are set up at the Twin Lakes Elementary School's storm shelter in preparation for Hurricane Irma's impact Sept. 8, 2017, in Jacksonville, Fla.
Red Huber / APPalm Bay officer Dustin Terkoski walks over debris from a two-story home at Palm Point Subdivision in Brevard County, Fla., after a tornado touched down on Sept. 10, 2017.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesA car is seen in a flooded street as Hurricane Irma passes through Miami on Sept. 10, 2017.
Red Huber / Orlando SentinelAden Alcroix-Camper, 11, walks through debris from a second-story roof scattered over a two-block area in Palm Bay, Fla., on Sept. 10, 2017, as Hurricane Irma made landfall.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesPeople ride out Hurricane Irma in their apartments as it passes through Miami on Sept. 10, 2017.
Chris O'Meara / APBrian Baker, of Valrico, Fla., cuts up an Oak tree that fell across Falling Leaves Drive after Hurricane Irma passed through the area on Sept. 11, 2017, in Valrico, Fla.
Mike Stocker / APThe winds and sea are whipped up off of the Rickenbacker Causeway in Miami as Hurricane Irma approaches on Sept. 9, 2017.
Paul Chiasson / The Canadian PressTwo men walk their bicycle along a flooded street on the waterfront of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as Hurricane Irma passes through on Sept. 10, 2017.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesBroken tree branches block roads in the Coral Beach neighborhood as Hurricane Irma hits Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Sept. 10, 2017.
Marcus Yam / Los Angeles TimesAdam Todd, does a handstand while skateboarding down a virtually empty Ocean Drive in Miami Beach.
Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesPeople clear debris out of a drainage ditch to keep the area from flooding as Hurricane Irma passes through Miami on Sept. 10, 2017.
Wilfredo Lee / APSailboats moored near Watson Island ride out the winds and waves as Hurricane Irma passes by on Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami Beach, Fla.
APPeople trudge through floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Jacksonville, Fla. In a parting blow to the state, the storm caused record flooding in the Jacksonville area.
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times
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At Little Haiti Hardware and Lumber in Miami, owner Jean Rameau is already exhausted by the rush of people coming for supplies Sept. 7, 2017.
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As Hurricane Irma’s raging winds and pounding rain swept through Florida this past weekend, leaving millions of Floridians without electricity, more than 200 workers and contractors were sent Saturday to help restore power.
NIPSCO officials said the group arrived Monday in Tampa Bay.
“In the case of Irma we were having conversations in the early part of last week as the hurricane was approaching Florida, tracking the storm and trying to determine how many resources we could offer up and how many would they need,” said Nick Meyer, NIPSCO’s director of communications.
Irma was downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday but it continues to push inland, wreaking havoc on nearly the entire Florida peninsula and traveling up through Georgia.
NIPSCO coordinated with Tampa Electric, an electric company that services West Central Florida, to determine how their workers will be assisting with the widespread power outages there.
“This storm has the potential to be devastating, and our goal is a safe and efficient restoration,” said Gordon Gillette, president and chief executive officer of Tampa Electric in a press release Saturday. “We have prepared for this scenario, and we’re bringing in additional resources to meet the challenge. We stand ready for Irma.”
Meyer said NIPSCO sent electrical lineman, logistics personnel, engineers and a range of other workers who would be helping restore power in the affected areas.
“Essentially they would be likely rebuilding significant portions of the electric system down there,” he said.
It is unclear how long NIPSCO worker will be in Florida. Meyer said they would have a better idea after they get through there first few days of work.
“Our thoughts are not only with our employees going down there but our focus is on those that are most affected and impacted,” he said. “It’s a terrible situation to go through and we hope for a quick recovery.
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