With Subtropical Storm Alberto bearing down on the Gulf Coast, Gulf Power is focusing crews and resources on the Panama City area for the possibility of an early Monday morning landfall. If Panama City and the surrounding areas are impacted, as soon as it's safe to work, crews are prepared to begin restoring power.

'Gulf Power continues to monitor the storm and changing weather, with additional resources being sent toward the Panama City area, ready to ensure timely and safe power restoration,' said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power spokesperson. 'With tropical force winds, rain and flooding projected across the area, customers should be prepared for the possibility of losing power for an extended period of time. With additional resources coming in from other areas we serve, our priority is to get the lights back on as quickly and safely as possible.'

Gulf Power has been closely monitoring Alberto since before it became a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico and is maintaining a watch on the storm's path. The storm is expected to bring the threat of heavy rain and flash flooding to a large area of Northwest Florida.

Once the storm passes, Gulf Power crews will evaluate any damage to the energy grid, and work to quickly and safely restore power. If additional resources are needed, 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.

'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.'

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 Facebook or 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
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 atMyGulfPower.com or on the company'sFacebook,InstagramandTwitterpages.News information can be found atGulfPowerNews.com.

News 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

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Southern Company published this content on 27 May 2018 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 27 May 2018 21:32:05 UTC