LEE COUNTY, Fla. — A crew from Luzerne County, made up of IBEW Local 1319 members, is working in and around the Fort Myers, Florida, area, not far from where Hurricane Ian made landfall.
"Based on what I've seen before, it's just absolute destruction down here," said Ryan Martin, a member of IBEW Local 1319. "The winter storms are usually ice, not putting people out of their homes or anything like that. Down here, people are flooded, houses are destroyed, cars are floating all over the place, trees don't have leaves on them; they're ripped out of the ground. It's a pretty good amount of destruction."
Martin is from Berwick and has been on recovery missions like these for the last ten years. He says he misses the comforts of home.
"We're sleeping on hammocks on the back of the truck. My buddy Elliot is sleeping on a hammock on the back of the digger. I'm sleeping on the trailer with a mosquito hammock and showering beside the truck. The amount of people in our man camp is just overwhelming," explained Ryan.
He misses his family too.
"I just wanted to be a part of what's going on down here and help people, but also, my wife is expecting on December 16," he added.
While expecting their first son, Ryan knows that his time in Florida serves a bigger purpose for those communities there and his family too.
"Doing everything I can to with the economy and everything like that to help down here but also make some money and be ready for when my wife has her baby," he said.
Martin is hoping to be home by the end of next week, so he won't have to miss any more doctor appointments with his wife here at home.
When this crew joined the effort, 2.8 million people were without power in Florida. Each day that number gets smaller and smaller.
Watch stories about the Agnes Flood on YouTube.