Emera teams from Nova Scotia heading south to be on hurricane standby

Nova Scotia Power's parent company says it's sending teams from the province to have help at the ready in Florida and the Bahamas as Hurricane Irma moves through the region. 

The Halifax-based company, which owns a subsidiary in Tampa, Fl. and has stakes in Caribbean utilties, has already sent a small team of field supervisors to Grand Bahama island, according to spokesperson Simon Couper. 

A team of 45 will be sent by Emera Utility Services to Atlanta, Ga., where they'll remain on standby. 

"They will be safely positioned close to Atlanta and readily available for restoration work wherever our customers need it depending on the path of the hurricane," said Couper in an email.

Irma's path

Hurricane Irma moved near the north coast of Cuba and central Bahamas Friday night and into Saturday on its way to make landfall in Florida. The storm has put Emera into "full hurricane preparedness mode," said Couper. 

He said at this time no line crews from Nova Scotia Power have been dispatched. ​

Irma regained Category 5 strength with winds of 260 km/h late Friday, before dropping to Category 4 again with winds of 249 km/h early Saturday.

In an update released Saturday morning, the National Hurricane Center lifted the hurricane warning for Central Bahamas, but left it in place for the northwest Bahamas.

The storm is expected to be near the Florida Keys on Sunday morning and approach the state's southwest coast by that afternoon.

Emera's stakes

According to Emera's website, Tampa Electric provides power to more than 725,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers. Emera has about 82 per cent interest in the Grand Bahama Power Company. 

Couper said the Nova Scotia Power will continue to monitor forecasts and has teams on standby to assist in other regions if needed.