Just 24 hours after Tropical Storm Fay hit Southwest Florida, the Lee County Electric Co-op restored power to more than 17,000 customers.

In today's "Maggie Monday," Maggie Crane shows us how the linemen get the seemingly overwhelming job done.

LCEC serves nearly 200,000 customers in Southwest Florida, and they're as far apart as Sanibel Island to Golden Gate in Collier County.

WINK News went along as linemen installed new service.

After Fay stormed on shore, it made many of us realize you need them the most -- linemen. They're the people who put power back into our homes after strong storms knock it out.

"People tend to get a little upset with us if we take a little long, but they gotta realize that sometimes we've got a lot of people out," LCEC Lead Lineman Jerod Ford says.

"It's rewarding. We get to see a lot of good times -- people out of power for a couple of days in big storms but when we do get there, get the poles up, turn 'em on, everybody's happy," LCEC Lineman Josh Jackson says.

Ford Jackson work to restore and run power to people every day, assessing damage and repairing power poles.

"If we just went and flipped every switch and there's a wire down and kids playing by it, it would kill somebody," Ford says.

Even if they can't see a problem, someone or something else often can. A heat-sensing camera takes pictures of equipment to catch small problems before they become big ones. Anything 10 to 20 degrees hotter than normal is a concern.

Linemen rely on team work to get a job done.

"We've got to run a service across the street from the transformer," Ford explains.

After all, it's a dangerous and even deadly job.

"We could get shocked, flashed, killed," Jackson says.

"Plus we've got weather -- extreme heat, it's possible to fall, and you've got traffic to deal with," Ford adds.

Factor in strong storms, and add lightning strikes to that list.

"Our dispatch monitors it 24/7. They're almost as good the news!" Jackson says.

When they're not battling storms, they even fend off other assailants.

"We've had alligator issues," Jackson says. "A couple years ago, me and my partner got called to Immokalee. We're at Old Oil Well Road on a dirt road and when we turn around, we see a 14-foot alligator!"

Out of all the tools on their trucks, gloves are the number one tools to help keep linemen safe.

'This is our life. If something happens to one of these gloves and we don't pay attention, we can be killed," Jackson says. "We'll check it for any leaks, and that assures us the glove's in good shape."

If the bright yellow lining shows through, the glove is no good.

"You do feel a tingle, even through the gloves," Jackson says.

Special shirts also help protect LCEC workers from the 14,000 volts of electricity coursing through the lines.

"It's not fire proof, it's flash proof," Ford says. "If we're able to get out of the fire, it would just scorch the shirt."

When linemen are connecting power, they also add another layer of protection -- rubber padding.

"We're able to put the sleeves on the line, which protects us from accidental contact, like if our shoulder hits it, it would be covered," Ford says.

The whole process of putting in a new service line takes several hours, and after many checks, Ford covers the electric meter with a cover.

"Then we put our meter seal on there so no one can get in there and get themselves hurt," Ford says.

And now, a new place has power.

Crews are on call 24-7 and LCEC doubles up road staff when they know a storm is headed our way, otherwise, it's business as usual.

If you have an idea for a "Maggie Monday," send me an email at maggie.crane@winktv.com.