Gulf Power is closely monitoring Subtropical Storm Alberto in the Gulf of Mexico, the first named tropical system of 2018 forecast to approach Northwest Florida this Memorial Day weekend. The storm is expected to bring the threat of heavy rain and flash flooding to a large area of the Southeast and Northwest Florida lasting into early next week.
According to the National Hurricane Center’s tropical weather outlook, the system is expected to become a tropical storm late Saturday or early Sunday.
“Customers should always prepare for the possibility of losing power for an extended period when tropical storm force winds and storm surge or flooding occurs,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power spokesperson. “Nevertheless, our crews stand at the ready to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
Last hurricane season proved to be extremely busy with Hurricanes Harvey and Maria — along with Irma and Nate which impacted Florida in a span of one month.
“Our teams rapidly deployed to restore power when tropical force winds from Irma knocked out service to 13,000 customers in the Panama City area, and again during Hurricane Nate when we restored more than 38,000 outages in 24 hours. We train year-round for these types of a scenarios and deploy crews to different areas across the Southeast to help others restore power. That training and developing of skills has really paid off in helping us quickly and safely get our customers’ power back on.”
As a part of Southern Company, Gulf Power has extra backing and resources from Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power should they be needed.
Even though Gulf Power’s customers haven’t experienced a major storm in more than 10 years, the energy provider’s crews have had plenty of storm restoration practice — they’ve traveled more than 40 times to 14 different states since 2008, assisting in power restoration efforts.
Customers can get more storm preparation information on the Gulf Power Storm Ready Center webpage.
How customers can connect with us:
- To get the latest updates on outages, customers can download Gulf Power’s app and access the outage map for the latest restoration information. The app is free and available for iPhone and Android. Just search for “Gulf Power” in iTunes or the Google Play Store.
- Customers should follow Gulf Power on social media to receive updates on Facebookor Twitterbefore, during and after the storm.
- Sign up for free Power Out alerts through your cell phone by texting REG to MyGulf (694853). Or, visit the Preference Center in the My Account area of MyGulfPower.com to choose whether to receive texts, emails or phone calls with outage updates.
- Gulf Power knows when your power is out. We suggest consulting the outage map first for information. However, you can call 1-800-487-6937 if you have any questions about your outage.
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About Gulf Power
Company. Gulf Power serves more than 460,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely provide exceptional customer value by delivering reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible electricity while strengthening our communities. Visit online at MyGulfPower.com or on the company’s Facebook,InstagramandTwitterpages.News information can be found at GulfPowerNews.com.
News Media Contacts:
Media Contacts:
Rick DelaHaya
Media Relations
850-872-3205, cell 318-294-2338
Kimberly Blair
Media Relations
850-444-6050, cell 850-206-5132
Gordon Paulus
Media Relations
850-444-6320, cell 850-525-7510
Jeff Rogers
Communications & Brand Manager
850-444.6243, cell 850-572-5511