Storm updates: Utilities director shares insights on recovery, outage map
Utility repair crews worked in the rain and thunder Monday to restore power following Friday's historic tornado outbreak, which left the electric grid and neighborhoods in ruins in Tallahassee and claimed the life of a 47-year-old woman who was killed when a tree fell on her home.
The city of Tallahassee, which reached 92% restoration Sunday night, saw power outages creep up during Monday's storms. Though no severe weather was reported in Tallahassee, the city got another 3-4 inches of rain.
Leon County said Monday that preliminary estimates show 55 homes were destroyed by the severe storms and nearly 640 damaged, roughly half with major damage. Another 88 homes were affected in some way.
Here's the latest:
Power outages reach lowest point as crews get into hardest hit areas and pace of progress slows
With power outages now reaching their lowest level, Mike Crow sees the end in sight.
But the City of Tallahassee's assistant general manager for power delivery is urging patience as local crews backed up by 27 mutual aid utilities continue to rebuild the electric grid and reconnect some of the most seriously damaged areas.
"This wreaked havoc on our community," he told the Democrat during a brief Tuesday evening interview after he reconnected two circuits that went down an hour earlier, knocking a couple thousand customers off the grid.
Crow and the city expect work "will last through Friday in the most impacted areas, followed by work on individual and isolated outages to buildings that were damaged."
Over the last 36 hours, progress has slowed as the army of linemen enter areas that endured the worst of the tree damage.
"The weather that came through certainly didn't help things," he said pointing to the heavy rain and blustery winds Monday that took down some trees and limbs that were already compromised.
Crow also spoke to the city's outage map, which can offer those caught in the dark hope or despair as the numbers rise or fall or if their area is marked or unmarked on the map.
"It's just important to understand the numbers are going to fluctuate when weather comes in and when weather goes out," he said, adding that sometimes technicians need to de-energize a line in one place so they can safely make repairs and bring even more customers back to the grid.
He also noted that crews visually verify that power has been restored before removing tickets that bring down the number of outages.
"There are parts of the map that we have a high degree of confidence are restored, but we don't want to take something out till we verify it," he said, adding that the city never wants to understate the number of outages.
He also said overnight is when numbers tend to "trickle down" consistently as crews verify outages are truly fixed.
"We have additional staff in the control room able to verify these things, and they see that the map is really cleaned up."
As of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, the city's outage map reported that 5,619 homes and businesses remain out of power from 492 outages spread around the city. The majority of the outages are in a vast swath across the central part of the city where the two EF-2 tornadoes cut through.
Crow also warned that there will be a record-breaking number of homes that will need an electrician and repairs before they can be reconnected to the grid. He said they have a running tally of such customers and it's already hit 170.
"I have personally witnessed tons of structural damage on their end that will have to be fixed before they can receive power," he said.
And once those repairs are completed it will require an inspection by city staffers before they can be re-energized by linemen.
Crow understands the frustrations of the those still caught in the dark as they enter Day 5 of the restoration. After all, he has members of his team who are working to reconnect others while their own homes are still without power.
"I want the public to know that we are out there and gonna be there till 100 percent power restoration," he said. "I urge the public to bear with us."
"We have a process, we are prepared for it and we're gonna get it done."
Latest number of outages back above 10,000 in Tallahassee
The number of outages in Florida's capital city is back above 10,000 as local crews backed up by 27 mutual aid utilities, continue to rebuild the electric grid.
The latest Tallahassee Outage Map operated by the city utilities reveals that 12,350 customers are out of power as of about 5:10 p.m. City officials have warned that the map is lagging and the mayor said they are putting the priority on getting residents energized rather than fixing the map. By 5:30 p.m., the outage map dipped to 10,465 outages.
In their 3 p.m. update, the Florida Public Service Commission reported that of 126,309 Tallahassee utility customers, 10,581 resident and businesses remain out of power. Put differently 8% are still in the dark.
At 6 a.m. Monday, the city had 9,574 customers out of power and then a round of heavy rain and blustery winds blew through which knocked thousands back off the grid as trees already weakened by Friday's tornado outbreak toppled.
The Democrat has reached out to city officials for further explanation, but officials have said that as they break into the hardest-hit areas they must rebuild the infrastructure before they can connect circuits that power entire neighborhoods. A record 400 utility poles were damaged in the storm, which was more than the number of Hurricanes Irma, Michael and Hermine combined.
W.T. Moore teacher and her daughters grappling with tornado trauma and a house with a tree in every bedroom
Carla Smith, a second-grade teacher at W.T. Moore Elementary School, was preparing her two daughters for school Friday morning, and told them, "It's a good day to wear rainboots." While watching the news she saw that a ferocious storm was coming and rushed out the house to beat the rain.
Her husband David packed everyone up in the car, kissed them all goodbye and went back into their house.
Then the winds began to howl.
"The tornado physically lifted my car off the ground and moved it into the tree, and then the trees just were falling all over us," Smith said, recalling the moment winds tossed her car 15 feet away into a tree.
In a flash, the car was rocked back and forth by strong wind gusts, and the loud snaps and strong vibrations of trees falling surrounded them on all sides. The three of them could only scream for help. Smith called her husband to save them, but he couldn't understand them clearly on the phone, all he could hear was their cries for help.
Read the full story of one family's harrowing escape here.
How to help your neighbors and those who have lost so much
Many are still picking up the pieces after Friday's tornadoes. The power is still out for thousands of residents, downed trees still need to be removed and hundreds of utility poles that snapped from 100-mile-an-hour winds must be replaced.
Wednesday, from 11 to 2 p.m., radio show host Greg Tish, along with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, Justin Caparello from Costco and lumber company J.H. Dowling, Inc., will be at Costco to collect non-perishable food items, bottled water and monetary donations. The monetary donations will go to local charities.
If you have need help or want to help, reporter Ana Goñi-Lessan is developing a comprehensive list of resources.
▶If you know of an organization helping with Tallahassee's tornado recovery, email Ana at agonilessan@tallahassee.com.
More storms and another tornado threat possible this weekend in Tallahassee
Another storm system could roll through the area this weekend as recovery efforts in Tallahassee remain underway following Friday's tornado outbreak.
An upper-level trough is forecast to approach the area on Friday, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said in forecast discussion Tuesday.
"The environmental conditions would suggest that some storms may be strong to severe with gusty winds being the main concern, a tornado or two and hail," forecasters said.
The Weather Service noted that heavy rain will be a concern through Saturday. The Weather Prediction Center assigned a slight risk (2 out of 4) for excessive rainfall for portions of the Florida Panhandle and a marginal risk (1 of 4) for areas to the east, including the southeast Big Bend for Friday. The entire area has a marginal risk on Saturday.
"Light showers and thunderstorms, lingering behind from Friday-Saturday will be possible on Sunday ahead of the next front clearing things out by Monday," the Weather Service said.
Tallahassee power outages continue to drop after storms clear area
The number of city electric customers in the dark dropped to 9,434 as of noon Tuesday, according to the Florida Public Service Commission. That's down about 500 customers from earlier in the morning, bringing restoration efforts to 93%.
"City crews, with support from 27 mutual aid utilities, continue rebuilding the electric grid," the city stated in a text message to customers. "Progress continues, and it's expected that rebuilding efforts in the most impacted areas will last through Friday, followed by work on individual and isolated outages to buildings that were damaged.
They signaled that weather could further complicate the restoration.
"Work is ongoing with additional storms expected this afternoon and clearing tomorrow morning."
Officials have said work will continue rain or shine, day and night, as long as it's safe.
City of Tallahassee power outages fluctuate before dropping below 10K
The number of city customers without power rose throughout the day Monday but dropped off again Monday night, according to state figures.
At 6 a.m. Monday, the city had 9,574 customers, or 8%, without electricity while Talquin Electric Cooperative had 1,136 outages. Talquin reached full restoration by 9 a.m. But city outages jumped to 12,311 or 10% by 3 p.m. and 15,150 or 12% by 6 p.m.
City outages dropped 10 10,071 or 8% by 9 p.m. but were up again by 6 a.m. Tuesday morning to 10,834 or 9%. As of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, city outages were down to 9,994.
The city said Monday afternoon that the latest round of storms could impact repair efforts.
"The city's electric crews are continuing restoration work," the city said in a text message to customers. "If conditions become unsafe, crews will take shelter until it is safe to resume work."
Three tornadoes and 100-mph straight-line winds knocked out power Friday morning to more than 80,000 city and Talquin Electric customers, prompting an around-the-clock restoration effort that saw an influx of more than 400 outside utility personnel.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Updates: Tallahassee power outages dip; weekend storm threat possible
