ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – As we wait for Hurricane Milton to make landfall in Florida, there are some New Mexicans that are already preparing for the recovery.

The back-to-back hurricanes have volunteers and workers from across the nation rushing to Florida to help them in the wake of the next storm. 

Red Cross and Xcel Energy in New Mexico say this Category 4 hurricane is going to do a lot of damage, and sending New Mexicans down to help is the least they can do. 

Xcel Energy workers were in Georgia last week. They worked to restore power following Hurricane Helene.

Wes Reeves told KOB 4 Georgia Power released them on Monday. Then, they made their way to Fort Walkton Beach to wait out the storm.

Once it passes, the crew full of New Mexico and Texas workers will restore power to Tampa. They have to spend a lot of time in safety meetings and making sure they are working carefully in these conditions. 

“What happens is these utilities that are affected will put out an appeal on mutual aid network for the need like, ‘We need 10 of these or 20 of these.’ Then, the various utilities that are able to help will nominate their resources and then get picked up that way. It’s almost like a draft, you know, in professional sports or something like that,” said Wes Reeves, a New Mexico and Texas Xcel Energy public information officer.  

Workers will stay for a week at a time. If they still need help restoring power, Xcel will switch them out and send another group. 

The Red Cross is also sending people in weeklong increments. They have five on the ground in Florida now, with 20 who have plane tickets and will be ready to head out in the coming days. 

“A typical day-to-day for anybody that does response soon is going to be setting up shelters, managing shelters, feeding people, helping people get medication if it is missing. Just helping people with the emotional things that are going to be going on because of the impact of this hurricane,” said Douglas Keaty, an American Red Cross public information officer.  

The Red Cross will be working on Hurricane Milton and Helene relief at least until the new year. 

For anyone who is interested in volunteering, click here for more information.