Lakeland Electric Update 10/12 at 1 p.m.

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

• 3,000 customers have been restored so far today.
• As restoration efforts progress, the outages are becoming increasingly challenging and time-consuming. We are transitioning from repairing outages that restore power to thousands of people at a time to outages that restore power to hundreds of people at a time.

Estimated Restoration Times

• We estimate that power will be restored to all customers able to safely receive it on Friday, October 18. Customers currently experiencing flooding may expect their power to be restored toward the end of our estimated timeframe.
• We anticipate areas that are not flooded in Combee Settlement, Polk City, Orangedale and Highland City having power restored on Tuesday, October 15. 

Personnel

• There are 600 personnel in the field restoring power. 
  • This includes more than 500 mutual aid personnel from Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida.
  • For scale, this is 5 times our normal operation.  

Customer Service

• Customers should call (863)834-9535 to report electric emergencies and downed lines.
• Customer Service Call Center is open. 
  • We are only taking storm-related calls. 
  • Disconnects for non-payment are suspended for all customers. 
• Customers can monitor their outage by visiting our Outage Map. https://lakelandelectric.com/outagemap
• Our lobby remains closed until further notice.
• Reference our Hurricane Guide for more customer information.