Five days after three tornadoes and 100 mph straight-line winds wreaked havoc in Leon County, there is a real light at the end of the tunnel.
The City of Tallahassee has restored power to 96% of its customers following a historic effort that has seen the city mobilize reinforcements from across the Southeast, increasing its workforce fivefold.
Earlier this week, another round of storms hampered repairs to the power grid. Forecasters say another storm system could bring severe weather and heavy rain to the Panhandle and Big Bend starting Friday.
This is the latest:
Want to know how close you are to a tornado's path of destruction?
Want to see how close your business location is to the direct path of a tornado that ripped through Tallahassee?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides you with an overlay map of the storm track.
Click https://apps.dat.noaa.gov/stormdamage/damageviewer/ and enter your address to get started. Make sure the date range includes May 10, the day a tornado struck Florida's capital.
What is the scope of responsibility to repair damaged homes and restore power?
As city crews begin restoring power to ground zero of the tornado outbreak, they expect to find a record number of homes with damaged electrical infrastructure.
A city utility director told the Democrat on Tuesday that they had counted 170 such customers.
If a customer's electric meter or weather head (the connection where the power cord enters the home) is damaged, the customer will need to hire a licensed electrician to make repairs. An inspection will then be scheduled, followed by repairs.
The city has posted details and a video explanation of the scope of responsibility below.
Step 1 | Understand Responsibilities
- The homeowner is responsible for the electrical equipment on the house, such as the meter box and weather head. If any equipment is damaged, contact a licensed electrician. The City does not have the authority to repair any privately owned equipment.
- Tallahassee Utilities is responsible for connecting power poles, service lines to your house, other facilities that provide power to your house, and the meters that measure your electricity usage.
Step 2 | Schedule Repair
- If a customer-owned appliance is damaged or becomes detached from the property, it is the homeowner's responsibility to work with a licensed electrician to arrange repairs.
- Your licensed electrician will need to be licensed by a growth management company.
- Do not hire an unlicensed electrician or attempt to repair the damage yourself.
Step 3 | Check and Repair
- Once the electrician services are completed and you have passed all required inspections, please contact the City of Tallahassee Development Management Department at 850-891-1800. The City will work with you to restore power once all repairs are completed as required.
Tallahassee's power outage count briefly dips below 5,000 for first time since tornado outbreak
The number of city customers without power Wednesday morning dropped to 4,827, nearly half the number Tuesday night, according to the Florida Public Service Commission.
Only 4% of customers are still in the dark. Residents in several hard-hit areas, including parts of Indianhead Acres, reported they were back online.
Mike Crow, the city's assistant general manager for electric transmission, told the Democrat on Tuesday that recovery efforts have slowed as repair crews move into the hardest-hit areas of the city.
For those cities without power on the outage map, Crowe also noted that sometimes technicians need to cut power to a line in one location so they can safely make repairs and bring more customers back to the grid. That may explain why the number of customers without power in the city was back up to 6,666 by midday Wednesday, just hours after falling below 5,000.
City officials said repairs in the most affected areas will continue through Friday, followed by individual and isolated outages to damaged buildings.
When there is structural damage to homes and businesses' electric meters or weather heads (where wires enter a home), there's only so much electrical crews can do.
Crowe warned that a record number of homes will need electricians and repairs to be reconnected to the grid. He said that they have such customer statistics, which currently reaches 170.
“I witnessed a lot of structural damage on their ends that had to be repaired to get power,” he said.
Once these repairs are completed, they will require inspection by city crews before power can be re-energized by line crews.
More heavy rain, severe weather possible this weekend
A storm system is expected to move across North Florida on Friday and Saturday, bringing the potential for heavy rain and severe weather.
There is a marginal (1 in 5) risk of severe weather west of Tallahassee, including Franklin and Calhoun counties. Rainfall amounts are expected to range from 1 to 3 inches in the area, with higher amounts in isolated areas, according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.
“The timing is subject to change as we are still a few days away, but the best time for these storms will be from Friday afternoon into Saturday night,” the NWS said. “Potential severe weather on Saturday will depend on the week. Five situations.”
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
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