Conway Corp electric workers head to Florida to help with hurricane aftermath.

Conway Corp electric line workers have joined forces with crews from nine Missouri cities to travel to Florida, ready to perform recovery work in the wake of Hurricane Michael.

Organized by the Missouri Public Utility Alliance, the crews from Conway Corp are travelling to Tallahassee, preparing to respond to power outages after the storm passes.

The workers will stage in Tallahassee, equipped with eight bucket trucks, seven digger trucks and 11 other linework vehicles, ready to restore power to Florida municipal utilities in affected areas after the storm passes. Municipal utility workers from other states are also on the road to Florida to assist in hurricane recovery efforts.

Preparedness coordinators for the Florida Municipal Electric Association issued a call to the Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA) for mutual aid assistance on Oct. 7.

The responding crews are from “public power” electric utilities, not-for-profit community-owned electric utilities that serve their individual communities, but also have agreements in place allowing staff to assist neighboring communities and states during widespread outages in other communities.

The mutual aid response is coordinated through MPUA’s mutual aid network. Assisting cities are reimbursed by the municipal utilities receiving assistance. Nationally, mutual aid agreements organized through the American Public Power Association link more than 2,000 public power and rural electric cooperatives, so they can help each other in times of need.