There are always hurricanes and tropical storms in the south.
The water off the coast of Florida is very warm and that leads to tropical storm activity. Most of the time we are safe from storms, but every once in a while we get hit with a big one. This year St. Petersburg, Florida, was hit with a pretty big storm. We had a lot of heavy winds for more than 24 hours. The storm took out power for 3 days. A lot of my friends and I had to respond to the scene to help out with storm related damage. I have a couple of friends that work in the tree trimming business. They were one of the first people called to St. Petersburg to help with the storm. Electricians were also called down there and so were HVAC representatives. I work for a contracting company that has plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians. The residential and commercial repair company sent 30 employees to St. Petersburg to help out with all of the storm problems. The power was out for 3 days, but everyone worked quickly to restore life to the big city. I was really proud to work on the project and I didn’t mind the pay either. Every day that we were working on HVAC related problems due to the storm, I received double pay. I got paid from my boss and I also received hazard pay from the state. It honestly pays to be a contractor, especially if you can get yourself a spot with the local union.