Day Seven - System Restored
Lakeland Electric has restored its system following Hurricane Milton. Power has been reinstated for customers who can safely receive service. As clean-up efforts continue, hazards such as hanging tree limbs remain, which could cause short-term outages. Customers will continue to see numerous crews in the area reconnecting service to customers whose damaged property or electrical equipment has been repaired. Customers with damaged electrical equipment or those dealing with flooding may be unable to safely receive power until the floodwaters recede or their equipment undergoes assessment and repair by a qualified electrician. Once the property owner has made repairs, customers should contact (863) 834-9535 to have power safely reconnected. Lakeland Electric would like to express its deepest gratitude to the over 500 mutual aid personnel from Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida who assisted in the power restoration effort. Additionally, it extends its thanks to the men and women at Lakeland Electric who have worked tirelessly to serve their community during this emergency. Customer Service
We currently have fewer than 200 customers without power who can safely receive service. Our efforts to restore power have not diminished. We are dedicating all of our resources to restoring power to our community.
Power restoration and circuit sweeps will continue through tomorrow. This means we will be inspecting power lines from beginning to end in each circuit to locate and repair low-hanging wires, tree limbs on wires, damaged meters, and damage to customers' electrical equipment. Crews will also be reconnecting service to customers whose equipment has been repaired and are now able to receive service. We will not rest until every customer has their power restored. Outages
Crews continue to restore power to customers quickly. In some areas, lineworkers are accessing job sites by boat to restore power. Restoration continues in dry portions of our community as well. We continue to encounter large amounts of tree debris that must be removed to restore power.
Our call center is open; customers who have had an electrician repair damage to their electrical equipment should call (863) 834-9535 to have their service reconnected. Outages
We are beginning circuit sweeps today, that means that our crew will be riding circuits from beginning to end looking for any tree limbs on wires that are currently energized, damage to customers electrical equipment, low hanging wires, etc.
Much of our work today continues to focus on easements and backyards. This work is slow because we can't use bucket trucks, and lineworkers must climb poles to restore power. We are finishing restoration efforts today in the northeast portion of our territory for customers who can safely receive power. Heavy work will be occurring along the New Tampa Highway area. As more work is being completed in easements and backyards, please keep gates and fences unlocked and keep dogs inside for the safety of our teams and to help keep restoration moving quickly. Outages
All of our mainline circuits are restored. These are the main arteries that supply power to neighborhoods. So far, we have found 153 broken power poles, 85 damaged transformers, 835 reported wires down, and 375 jobs that are not accessible by truck. These numbers will continue to grow.
As more work is being completed in easements and backyards, please keep gates and fences unlocked and keep dogs inside for the safety of our teams and to help keep restoration moving quickly. Outages
All of our mainline circuits are restored. These are the main arteries that supply power to neighborhoods. So far, we have found 136 broken power poles, 84 damaged transformers, 771 reported wires down, and 356 jobs that are not accessible by truck. These numbers will continue to grow.
As more work is being completed in easements and backyards, please keep gates and fences unlocked and keep dogs inside for the safety of our teams and to help keep restoration moving quickly. Outages
Today, power has been successfully restored to more than 9,000 customers, marking over 90% of customers affected by Hurricane Milton restored in just three days.
Customers with damaged electrical equipment or those currently contending with flooding may be unable to safely receive power until the floodwaters recede or their equipment undergoes assessment and repair by a qualified electrician. Outages
The restoration of all our mainline circuits is nearly complete, except for the Gibsonia-Galloway circuit, which is still undergoing restoration. Today, we have made significant progress in restoring power in Highland City, and the West Memorial circuit has been successfully restored. We have crews actively working in Combee Settlement today and across our service area. Our Utility Resource Coordinator expressed optimism, stating, "We’re gobbling them up today," when asked about the status of the outages.
Outages
Our crews are navigating more flooding than we've ever encountered post-hurricane. The waters have inundated areas previously untouched by such disasters, creating new challenges for our recovery efforts. Some locations are still flooded, and our crews are wading through chest-deep water to survey the damage and restore power, particularly in the northwest portion of our service area.
Adding to the complexity of restoration, we're navigating communication challenges. In some areas, we can only communicate with our crews by radio. Our crews are undeterred. Despite these obstacles, we're making steady progress. We've already announced estimated restoration times for some areas and will have more to announce today. Outages
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