Business
Illinois ComEd Workers Head to Florida to Support Hurricane Milton Recovery
ComEd trucks and workers began the trip to Florida on Oct. 9, 2024, to aid in Hurricane Milton response. (Credit: ComEd)
Local efforts are underway to aid residents in Florida as Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall Wednesday night.
Sixty ComEd employees left Illinois Wednesday, heading to Florida to support workers there, a spokesperson said.
And an additional 200 ComEd workers will be redeployed to Florida after finishing restoration in Georgia and South Carolina following Hurricane Helene.
Millions of people have been ordered to evacuate as the intense storm is threatening the highly populated Tampa Bay area.
Florida officials have been issuing warnings to evacuate as the storm approached but as the day wore on that window of opportunity passed and they began to advise those remaining to prepare to ride out the hurricane.
Milton, which has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida, was a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. It was expected to remain a hurricane after hitting land and plowing across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through Thursday.
Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bull's-eye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.
The Associated Press contributed.