Maritime Electric crews head south to help after Hurricane Irma

Seven crew members from Maritime Electric are en route to Turks and Caicos and will spend the next two to three weeks helping with restoration efforts following Hurricane Irma.

Maritime Electric is sending technicians and a supervisoras part of a relief effort by their parent company, Fortis Inc., which brought together crews from across the country in Toronto over the past couple days.

Roughly 60 crew members fromFortis B.C., Alberta and Ontario as well asMaritime Electric and Newfoundland Power will arrive in Turks and Caicos around 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.

"This combined effort to assistFortisTCI in restoring the power system will be comprehensive," Gary Smith, executive vice president of Eastern Canadian and Caribbean operations with Fortis,said in a news release.

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"Our first priority will be restoring power to critical infrastructure such as water supply systems, as well as to emergency response organizations like fire, police, hospitals and shelters," he said.

"All other efforts will be organized and prioritized once on the ground."

P.E.I. crews 'very eager' to help

Some of the people heading down from P.E.I. have experience helping with relief efforts and they're eager to help once more, said Kim Griffin, spokesperson for Maritime Electric.

She said they've been watching the weather closely.

"They're very concerned but very eager and keen to get on a plane and move quickly to assist," she said.

The nearly 60 peopleheading south are part ofthe first wave of relief effortsfrom Fortis Inc. Another wave of crew members is expected to relieve the first group andcontinue restoration efforts.

"Many of our colleagues have been in contact with our crews and our companies in Turks and Caicos, at this point there will be assigned work to help restore some of the damages occurred on sight," Griffin said.

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