Hurricane Michael continues to snake its way up the Southeast, having wreaked havoc on Florida's panhandle with near category 5 strength, and turning toward the still recovering Carolinas. During all of this, Verizon's emergency preparedness teams are working to keep emergency responders, communities, and families connected and safe.

Verizon's David Small, Executive Vice President of Field Operations, says: "During Hurricane Florence, we deployed 43 portable generators, 15 portable assets to replace or supplement cell service, used 95,000 gallons of fuel to ensure our facilities remained on air when commercial power was down and supported 14 first responder organizations and shelters with additional coverage. And we are ready to do it again to ensure our customers can stay connected."

Here are the steps that Verizon is taking during Hurricane Michael:

• Lifting speed cap restrictions again for first responders in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, all of which are a projected part of the storm's path.

• Inspecting backup generators, HVAC systems and fiber rings at cell sites and switching centers to keep the network running and customers connected.

• Pre-arranging fuel deliveries, with tankers poised and in position to quickly respond to hard-hit areas in case commercial power is lost.

• Staging a fleet of portable emergency equipment that can be deployed quickly to keep customers connected or restore damaged connections as soon as possible.

• Preparing surveillance drones to help assess and respond to damage after a storm.

• Communicating details about Verizon's Public Safety Private Core to support public safety, especially during times of high data traffic.

• Setting up storm command centers in network facilities that are built to withstand category 5 winds

For more information about Verizon, visit https://www.verizon.com .