'In the dark': Comcast, Metronet customers still without internet a week after tornados

Restoration efforts have been in full swing since three powerful tornados ravaged the capital city and county last week, yet many Comcast and Metronet customers are still largely without internet a week later.

"Are we looking at days, weeks or what?" Dale Crawford said.

Crawford, who lives on Williams Road in eastern Leon County and is a Comcast customer, said the lack of communication about when to expect their services to be restored is the most frustrating.

His internet and power went out at the same time the morning of the storms, but while the power came back on Sunday, his internet is still not working as of Friday morning.

A Comcast spokesperson said in a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat that some of the service interruptions were because of the power outages, and others were because fiber lines were damaged and in need of repairs.

"We're making progress as quickly and as safely as possible," the spokesperson said. "We'll continue working to make sure every customer's service is restored."

More than 90% of customers have had their services restored, according to the spokesperson, and crews are “still hard at work on the ground.”

In the meantime, Crawford said he's bought a Wi-Fi hot spot so he can go online to pay bills, but so far he isn't able to get the hot spot to work either.

"For a while, I was getting several messages a day from Xfinity telling me they would be back soon even though I knew that was preposterous because the amount of damage that was out there. I knew it was not going to be soon," he said.

Similarly, Tana McLane of the Indianhead neighborhood, a Metronet customer, said she too is frustrated that she doesn't know anything about the progress of getting her internet back.

"We’re just sort of in the dark about what’s next and even reaching out to them doesn’t reveal much," McLane said.

More: Severe storms possible Saturday across Tallahassee area; tornado threat low

Metronet currently has 25 crews working with electric utilities to expedite repairs in the area, Metronet Regional Vice President Bill Gilliam said in a statement provided to the Democrat.

"Immediately following the storm, any Tallahassee neighborhood that lost power was without Metronet service," Gilliam said. "We do not have exact restoration numbers, but are continuing to work quickly to restore our network."

Also, any neighborhood that is currently without power is also still without Metronet service "due to the interconnected nature of our infrastructure," he said.

Overall, McLane said she's been very happy with Metronet as her Wi-Fi provider – but a week without any internet and no end in sight is proving difficult.

"We’re trying to hang on as customers to them, but I work from home on my computer and it has now been a week without Wi-Fi so I’m going to have to do something," McLane said.

Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee residents still without internet a week after tornados