MILWAUKEE — As Hurricane Ian strengthens into a category 4 storm, We Energies says they are ready to step in to help restore power after the storm moves through.
More than 2.5 million Floridians were ordered to evacuate ahead of the hurricane.
"We know that it's going to be a big storm that is going to affect a lot of people. There will be power outages we know that is for certain," said Amy Jahns a spokesperson with We Energies.
According to Florida Power & Light, thousands began seeing power outages beginning Tuesday throughout the state as the outer bands of the storm pushed in strong winds, rain, and even tornadoes in some parts.
We Energies says they are working on standby through mutual aid calls to see which companies in the Sunshine State might need help.
"Hundreds and hundreds of crews from around the United States are on their way to Florida or already staged there to help with the storm restoration. We have sent some contracting crews, they usually help our utility out so about 75 crews have gone down to help," said Jahns.
This won't be the first time We Energies is stepping in to help during a hurricane.
"Most notably hurricane Maria with Puerto Rico, Irma, Superstorm Sandy, so we've gone down there. We bring our trucks, we've brought our equipment and we really work in coordination with those utility companies to make sure we can restore that power."
We Energies says they will determine whether or not they will be sending more crews to the affected areas after the storm passes.
"If they need additional crews we will continue to monitor that as needed."
