ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Duke Energy is ready to respond after Hurricane Nicole hits.
On Wednesday night, 375 Duke Energy trucks parked at Tropicana Field. The trucks drove in from North Carolina and South Carolina.
Once the storm passes, 5,000 workers across the state of Florida are ready to make sure customers have power.
Duke energy services two million people in Florida. Out of that, 500,000 are in the St. Petersburg area.
Tropicana Field is a good location for them to stage so linemen can respond quickly.
"We stage trucks like this in a good spot, near the highways so they can get somewhere fast," a spokesman for Duke Energy, Bill Norton, said.
If you lose power, their destination is your neighborhood. Duke Energy crews will know if you lose power without a phone call thanks to their smart meters.
"We now have a smart meter in everyone's home so we can send a signal to your home to see if you have power," Norton added.
People may lose power and never see a lineman nearby and that’s thanks to new technology.
"We have new smart healing technology that allows a lot of the power restoration to be automated rather than having a lineman go out," Norton added.
During Hurricane Ian, that was a big deal. It saved linemen 3.3 million hours in responding because 160,000 households had power automatically restored.
Crews are anticipating power outages to be different than during Hurricane Ian.
"This won’t be like Hurricane Ian. It will be more widespread given the wind field," Norton stated.
Which is why they are ready to restore power for thousands when the storm passes. Before the wind and rain, you can prepare ahead of time.
"Check on loved ones, especially elderly neighbors," Norton said.
Another big thing you can do ahead of the storm is if you’re in an area that floods, turn off your breaker. This will keep you and power crews safe.
Duke Energy has five staging areas across Florida.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported 5,000 people in the St. Petersburg area were serviced by Duke Energy. That number has been corrected to 500,000.