National Grid Massachusetts Crews Headed to Florida to Support Preparations for Hurricane Milton

WALTHAM, MA - National Grid’s operations specialists will continue to support storm restoration efforts in the southeast by heading to Florida to assist in preparation for Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall this week. Since Sept. 28 about 50 National Grid Massachusetts employees have been supporting restoration efforts in Tennessee and Virginia after Hurricane Helene brought extensive damage. With that work wrapping up, National Grid crews continued further south and are at the ready to support Tampa Electric.

“National Grid is proud of our employees who continue to provide support to our neighbors in the south during their time of need,” said Lisa Wieland, President, National Grid New England. “Following their assistance in restorations efforts of Hurricane Helene, our crews will be present and at the ready to respond to any impacts of Hurricane Milton.”

In addition, the company’s Massachusetts team will be joined by 160 National Grid electric operation colleagues from New York who will be assisting Duke Energy in storm preparation and response.

The complexity of power restoration after a catastrophic storm requires significant logistical expertise, along with skilled line workers and specialized equipment, which is why utilities rely on each other for aid. National Grid typically sends crews to assist other utilities following severe storms as part of a mutual assistance program. Similarly, other utilities from across the country and Canada respond to assistance requests from National Grid following severely damaging storms.

Hurricane Milton, currently a category 4 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to hit the west coast of Florida on Wednesday bringing strong winds and heavy rain to a region that has already seen heavy rain from the impact of Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.