More than 4,700 employees of Asplundh Tree Expert Co. and its utility infrastructure subsidiaries from all over the U.S. have were deployed to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee to help 22 utilities and municipalities restore power and services in the wake of Hurricane Irma. This mobilization occurred on the heels of sending over 400 employees to Texas for Hurricane Harvey restoration work two weeks before.
More than 3,700 Asplundh tree workers started traveling on Sept. 7 from as far away as the Pacific Northwest and northern New England to remove trees and limbs from roadways and power lines. The mobilized crews are assisting hundreds of local Asplundh crews who work in the area normally and have been assigned to storm-stricken utilities and municipalities from the Florida Keys up into Georgia.
Nearly 1,000 employees from infrastructure subsidiaries Asplundh Construction, Utility Lines Construction Services, Grid One Solutions and American Lighting and Signalization have been sent from as far away as the upper Midwest and Massachusetts. These crews are helping with damage assessment and rebuilding storm-damaged distribution and transmission lines, as well as traffic signal systems, and roadway lighting after more than 6.1 million utility customers in Florida lost power.
“Most of our crews are working staggered 16-hour shifts around the clock in difficult conditions, but I am proud to say they remain dedicated to restoring power safely and efficiently. We are constantly reinforcing our ‘Safety First … No One Gets Hurt!’ philosophy so that each and every one of them returns home uninjured” said Chairman of the Board and CEO Scott Asplundh. “I also want to recognize our Storm Coordination Team at the home office in Pennsylvania that has been on duty around the clock for more than a week now to fulfill utility and municipal requests for crews. They couldn’t do it without the generous cooperation of so many of our customers and we are grateful for that."
