NJ utility company sends help to Florida in wake of Hurricane Ian as storm makes landfall
As the historic "extremely dangerous" Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida, crews from PSE&G prepared to send help down south while making sure they're prepared for any remnants this weekend back in New Jersey.
As of Wednesday afternoon, PSE&G was releasing 48 contracted employees to provide aid to Florida, said Lauren Ugorji, communications consultant with the company. PSE&G participates in mutual aid through the North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group, which consists of 21 electric companies across 13 states.
Over 1.5 million homes and businesses across Florida already were dark, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us. Power outages should be expected statewide, Florida Power & Light warned.
Forecast:Hurricane Ian won't hit NJ like Ida, but remnants could bring some needed rain
Maximum sustained wind speeds were nearing 150 mph as Ian made landfall and were within 2 mph of Category 5, the highest status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale of Hurricane Intensity.
On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey "stands ready to offer aid as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida."
PSE&G will be holding additional crews in preparation for any impact the hurricane could have on New Jersey. "Once we are able to assess the impact to our area and the needs of our customers, we'll know more about our ability to further respond to others in need of assistance," Ugorji said.
Typically, utility companies will use sister companies first and if the damage is extensive they will then put out a formal request for additional crews, JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig said. Mutual assistance may not only be needed in Florida, but also in Georgia and South Carolina, depending on the route the storm takes. “We have plans, we just have to wait for instructions to find out if and where we are needed,” Hoenig said.
Orange & Rockland utility company had similar plans and will be holding onto crews until they can rule out any potential New Jersey impact. “Our fingers our crossed,” Sophia Salis, spokesperson for Orange & Rockland said. “It doesn’t look like we will be impacted, but we want to be sure before we release any crews. Things can change quickly and we should see more clarity in the next day or two.”
There's a low probability there will be significant impacts from the storm in the North Jersey area, National Weather Service meteorologist James Tomasini said.
The forecast shows a potential for wind gusts of 25 to 30 mph Sunday coming from the Northeast. There's only a 10% to 20% chance of 2 inches of rain over a 24-hour period starting late Saturday night to the end of the weekend in North Jersey, Tomasini said.
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"There could be some indirect impacts from Ian," he said. "The National Hurricane Center has the current track moving north and weakening over the Southern Appalachians. There are low probabilities of seeing some wind and rain with the associated warm front moving south of Long Island and high pressure moves from the north."
Hurricane Ian is not likely to devastate New Jersey the way the remnants of Hurricane Ida did in 2021, said Steven DiMartino, meteorologist and owner of the weather forecasting company NY NJ PA Weather. Ida landed in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane before bringing torrential downpours, tornadoes and flooding to New Jersey on Sept. 1, 2021. The storm killed 30 people in the state.
PSE&G has stepped in to help before, sending 154 workers to Florida for Hurricane Irma in 2017. New Jersey also dispatched 74 state police officers to assist in Puerto Rico earlier this month for Hurricane Fiona.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Hurricane Ian help coming from PSEG in NJ as path tracked
