'A lot of power lines down:' Generac services 100+ homes after Florence

Marshall Lewis

WAUKESHA -- Team members from Generac were back at their Waukesha headquarters Wednesday, Sept. 26 after spending days helping customers in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.

"Some of the pictures you see from the news reports on TV are very, very accurate," said Marshall Lewis, Generac.

While thousands evacuated the Carolinas, others headed toward the storm.

"All the way to the coast, to Cape Fear, down to Wilmington," said Lewis.

Lewis is the technical service manager for Generac in Waukesha. Along with a team of 12, Lewis witnessed the aftermath of Hurricane Florence firsthand.

"A lot of flooding. A lot of tree damage. A lot of power lines down," said Lewis.

Power is what Generac supplies. Team members with the company that makes generators deployed to the Carolinas to assist their dealers, handling more than 100 service calls -- mostly to homes.

"We did have special clearance to get into the areas," said Lewis.

That didn't mean Lewis and his co-workers were able to get out the same way they got in.

"There were a couple of times that we go in and four hours later, we'd try to get out on the same road and it was flooded over and we had to find a different means to come out," said Lewis.

Due to all of the flooding, Lewis and his team couldn't make it to some homes.

"We came in ready to work, ready to support them no matter what it took. It was a relief for the dealers to see the manufacturer come in as a partner to do that," said Lewis.

CLICK HERE for a list of storm preparation tips from Generac