LUBBOCK, Texas – Lubbock Power and Light sent a crew of 18 men to Lakeland, Florida to assist the community with damages caused by Hurricane Ian.
After ten days of travel and work, the men have finally returned home to the Hub City.
“It took us two days to drive down, about 34 hours. We got there and went to work that Friday morning and they threw us right into the fire,” said Jerry Prestridge, Service Department Supervisor for LP&L.
The crew consisted of Linemen, construction workers and mechanics, all helping a community struck by tragedy.
“It was a pretty serious thing. A lot of people over there were affected in a major way. There were people that were out of power for a week,” said Brad Harrison, Power Line Maintenance Foreman.
The men drove about 34 hours to get to Lakeland, “It’s always hard to be gone for a period of time but it’s very rewarding in the end and I think it was worth it to all of us to do it,” said Harrison.
The men put their training to the test working on systems entirely different from ones they were used to at home.
“The stuff they had there was like, it just couldn’t be done in one day even with hundreds of people there, so when we would get put on a job I mean, it was like an all-day ordeal,” said Chris Carrillo, a Journeyman Lineman.
The crews worked up to 16 hours a day to restore power to thousands.
“I think around the first poll that we did that morning, they said we got something like around 2500 customers back on,” said Prestridge.
Despite the hard work and long hours, the crew proudly represented Lubbock while helping the community of Lakeland.
“We take pride in what we do and what we do for the city and, you know, we just hope that the city knows that. We want to make them proud and we’re here to serve them,” said Harrison.
