Kissimmee Utility Authority and visiting mutual aid crews worked through the day and evening on Tuesday to restore power to customers affected by Hurricane Irma. At the peak of the storm on Monday morning, 38,000 customers – or 53 percent of the utility’s 72,000 customers – were without electricity.

At 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, crews had restored service to 33,328 or 88 percent of the customers impacted by the storm.

Through a mutual aid agreement, KUA has lineworkers and tree trimmers from Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas assisting with power restoration.

Crews are in Step 6 of the 7-step power restoration process: the repair of lateral or tap lines. Tap lines move power from the feeder lines down individual streets. Generally, there are 20-30 homes served by one tap line, with fewer homes in isolated or rural areas.

During this phase, customers may see a crew assess the damage and drive away without immediately restoring power. This may happen when the work requires more equipment or additional crew members because of extensive damage, or because of an urgent call elsewhere. A crew will return to make the repair.

Crews are making repairs based on restoring service to the greatest number of customers.