EXETER, Pa. — As Hurricane Ian strengthens and makes landfall, crews from Luzerne County are already on the way to help. Newswatch 16 found workers at Kuharchik Construction in Exeter organizing supplies and loading up their trucks on Wednesday, ahead of a long journey into the path of the storm.
With more than 150,000 power outages already, Florida Power and Light put out a call to crews across the country.
"During these large predicted power outage events, they put out a call to as many resources as they can to get the lights on as soon as possible," said Francis Yosh, Kuharchik Construction's general foreman.
Yosh has responded to so many disasters; he said he's lost count. This time, a crew of a dozen are making the two-day trip in a fleet of vehicles they'll use to work on powerlines.
"Right now, we're taking 12 guys," he said. "We're taking three buckets, one line truck, and two pickup trucks. The buckets would be for restoring aerial work. Our digger truck would be for digging, setting poles."
The pickup trucks, Yosh said, will work ahead of the rest, surveying the area and the electrical systems to give their team a heads up.
While their main goal is restoring power, Kuharchik's crews said they'll help any way they can.
"We're given ice water and Gatorade and food through the power company. The Red Cross helps out pretty good. If there's people that are struggling and we have extra, we'll give to the local residents," Yosh said. "Power is one thing, but when you're losing your home and property and a fridge full of food, sometimes a sandwich goes a long way."
The crew hopes to arrive in Daytona Beach late Thursday or early Friday and get to work right away.
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