VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The potential for strong winds expected to hit the Wabash Valley area on Friday has power companies ready to respond to outages.

WTWO reporters contacted Duke Energy for details on the company’s preparation.

The district manager, Rick Burger said their local crews are prepared, and also have extra contractors, ready to provide the crews extra support if needed.

In the event of a major outage, Burger explained the process of getting power restored.

“We go with hospitals and nursing homes. Then we work on what we call circuits. These are the main lines along the road or back behind your house in an alley which feeds hundreds to thousands of people. We’ll get on those first and then we’ll down to the single unit,” Burger said.

Burger also encouraged customers to call Duke Energy to report an outage and reminded residents that if they see a downed powerline to assume it’s a live one and stay safe.