Hurricane Irma: Maryland Utility Companies Helping Florida, Georgia

BALTIMORE, MD - When Hurricane Irma reaches Florida this weekend, more than 2 million people in the southeast will be without power, according to an online prediction tool. Those outage numbers will likely only get bigger as the storm makes landfall and heads north, say tool creators.

The Hurricane Irma Power Outage Prediction forecasting tool was created by researchers from Ohio State University, Texas A&M University and University of Michigan to model potential outages from what has become the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic.

The tool estimates the fraction of an area’s population that will likely have outages through statistical modeling of numerous factors, including wind speed estimates, population density, soil moisture levels.

It was predicting 2,303,000 would be without power from Florida to Tennessee. (Get Patch’s real-time news alerts, like us on Facebook or get the free iPhone app.)

_{Screenshot image from Hurricane Irma Power Outage Prediction site.}

Analysis: There's No Way Around Irma's Wrath For Florida

To help those affected by Hurricane Irma, Exelon—the parent company of Maryland utility providers BGE, Delmarva Power and Pepco—announced on Friday afternoon that it had more than 1,000 utility contractors ready to start traveling to Florida and Georgia. The workers ranged from tree crews to line workers and safety personnel, according to a statement from Exelon. It has also ensured there would be ample call center workers to handle an influx of emergencies.

All 7,000 members of the Florida National Guard have been activated in advance of Irma's arrival. In Georgia, 5,000 members of the National Guard have been called up.

As of 8 a.m. on Saturday, the Category 4 storm was located 225 miles south of Miami, Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph.

The prediction tool presently only shows outages for the southern end of Irma’s path, and emergency officials in Maryland say that the local impact is not believed to be that of neighboring areas like the Carolinas and Georgia, which have declared states of emergency.

"The most intense threats from Hurricane Irma are not predicted to hit Maryland at this time," MEMA Executive Director Russell Strickland said in a statement Friday night.

While MEMA is monitoring the storm and preparing for any possible hazards, the state has committed to help neighboring areas that may be hit.

"We are prepared to provide any and all resources needed in the wake of Irma, as well as continued help for those recovering from Hurricane Harvey," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said. "Thankfully, Maryland appears to be out of harm’s way from the worst impacts of Hurricane Irma; however there are millions of people in our region and surrounding states in the path of this deadly storm."

• Hurricane Irma: Maryland Ready With 'Any And All Resources,' Governor Says
• Hurricane Irma: Marylanders Urged To Prepare For Storm
• Montgomery County First Responders Stationed In Georgia For Hurricane Irma
• 4 Baltimore County Firefighters Helping FEMA With Irma Response
• Will Hurricane Irma Hit Maryland?
• Hurricane Irma: Pet Safety Tips Before Storm

Photo by Desmond Boylan/Associated Press.