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 atthe readyin Florida and the Bahamasas Hurricane Irma moves through the region.

The Halifax-basedcompany, which owns a subsidiary inTampa, Fl. and has stakes in Caribbean utilties, has already sent a smallteam of field supervisorsto GrandBahamaisland, according to spokesperson Simon Couper.

A team of 45 will be sentbyEmeraUtility Services to Atlanta, Ga., where they'll remain on standby.

"Theywill be safely positioned close to Atlantaand readily available for restoration work wherever our customers need it depending on the path of the hurricane," saidCouperin anemail.

Irma's path

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

He said at this time no linecrews from Nova Scotia Power have been dispatched.

Irma regained Category 5 strength with winds of 260 km/h late Friday, before droppingto 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 forthe northwest Bahamas.

The stormis 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. Emerahas about82 per cent interestin the Grand BahamaPower Company.

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