LARGO, Fla. — More than 500 Duke Energy crews are expected to head home to the Bay area this weekend after spending weeks in the Panhandle following Hurricane Michael.

Some of the crews were deployed before the storm even hit.

Power has been restored to about 1,000 households in Mexico Beach and St. Joe Beach that the company serves.

Officials say it wasn't as simple as fixing a broken pole or righting a pole that fell over. The power infrastructure was wiped away in some spots.

In many cases crews had to rebuild the main feeder poles and the branch lines that are closer to homes.

On top of that, there were obstacles they had to overcome to even get to the locations.

"Imagine the debris," said Duke Energy spokeswoman Ana Gibbs. "We're talking cars, we're talking homes in the middle of the street that had been moved off their foundation that had to be moved so we could reach our facilities to get people back on."

Officials say the crews went through 160,000 feet of feeder cable, 290,000 primary and neutral wires, and 8,000 gallons of fuel a day.

The crews are expected to come home Friday night and Saturday morning.