You know what’s disruptive? Hurricanes. Wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria devastated Texas, Florida and beyond.

Don’t worry. We are not turning ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR into a weather magazine. However, electrical contractors are in a special position to assess systems affected by water and rebuild from the micro to the macro level. From the Industry Watch section to some of our columns, we touch on that in this issue and will cover it more extensively in November.

The main theme of this month, however, is technological disruption, which also can be scary. From tools and gadgets to distribution methods to newfangled lighting technologies, we feature articles that aim to shake up your thinking about how you might do business in the future. Jeff Gavin demystifies disruptive technology in “Smart and Bold." Even Ikea has gotten into augmented reality with an app that digitally places Ikea furniture into your home.

Speaking of technology that has completely changed markets, solid-state lighting has created a revolution in that area. We started covering LEDs in earnest about 10 years ago. Since then, they have taken over. OLEDs now stand where LEDs were back then. We have been reading about OLEDs for a while, but Jeff explains that they are getting better and cheaper. Learn how to deploy them in “The Next Wow in Lighting."

Perhaps some of the oldest technology in electrical power is systems that handle transmission and distribution; along with those machines came the battle of the currents—AC versus DC. In recent years, DC has gained in popularity. In this issue, we learn that DC power offers enhanced safety, manageability, sustainability and design flexibility. Read “Power Play” by Susan Bloom.

Speaking of ingenuity, we love our project profiles here because they demonstrate and celebrate ECs at their best. Claire Swedberg takes us above and beneath New York City in “The Over-Under on New York." In this one, E-J Electric Installation Co. faced some monumental challenges on the Kosciuszko Bridge and Queens-Midtown Tunnel projects to keep citizens flowing in and out of Manhattan. It is the city that never sleeps, after all.

October also features the Integrated Systems Contractor supplement. If you like to read about tech, make sure you check out this bimonthly section. Notable to point out, Deborah O’Mara explains why using thermal video surveillance is a smart solution for outdoor video security in “Turn up the Heat.”

If you find all of this overwhelming, that’s OK! We’re here to help you learn, so you can take the most advantage of new technologies and make your businesses succeed. Turn the page and dive into the brave new world of disruptive technology.