'The numbers aren't as bad as Irma': debris collection starts Monday, schools open Tuesday

Mild weather throughout Polk County this weekend has provided electrical workers and residents with the opportunity to rapidly clean up after Hurricane Ian, while  municipal agencies have been working through their storm damage assessment trying to get a handle on the numbers.

Polk County spokeswoman Mianne Nelson said the crews had completed their first sweep through by Sunday morning, but did not have specific numbers on damages or financial figures yet.

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"The numbers aren't as bad as Irma," she said. "We still have a lot of people without power this morning."

The county's report indicated there are a few homes left uninhabitable by the storm, but the vast majority of Polk has been grapping with downed trees and wires as well as localized flooding along the Peace River.

Power outages persist

Roughly 10% to 12% of Polk County residents remain without power to their homes as of Sunday morning, Nelson said.

As of mid-day Sunday, Lakeland Electric was reporting around 10,600 customers remained without power post-Hurricane Ian — down from roughly 63,000. The outages are widespread across the city, according to the utility's online map, and in small pockets.

The municipal-owned utility had approximately 450 personnel working through the weekend to restore electricity between its crews and mutual aid. It expected to have power restored to customers in the northern end of its service area by the end of the day Sunday.

"As we enter the midpoint of our restoration process, the type of work becomes more difficult and slower," Lakeland Electric officials said in a statement.

The southern half of Lakeland Electric's service area should have electricity by Monday night, according to spokeswoman Cathryn Lacy, adding any remaining customers would have restoration Tuesday.

Ian took down more than 500 wires across Lakeland Electric's service territory, according to the utility's preliminary damage report. It had 80 damaged poles, 276 damaged transformers and 349 reports of trees requiring trimming or removal, according to Lacy. She said those numbers will likely increase as field reports from restoration crews come in.

Duke Energy was reporting nearly 93,000 customers without power in Florida as of 11 a.m. Sunday, based on its online outage map. A county-specific breakdown was not provided, though its map showed approximately 8,000 outages spanning from Lake Wales to Frostproof.

Duke Energy has said 90% of its Polk County residents can expect their electricity to be restored by midnight on Sunday.

Tampa Electric, which provides power to thousands of residents across Polk County, indicated it had more than 24,500 customer who remained without power Sunday morning. The utility does not provide a specific county-by-county breakdown of power outages, but its map showed clusters of smaller outages sweeping from I-4 south through Wahneta.

"We expect to restore power to the vast majority of customers by Sunday night," read a statement on the utility's website. "Some portions of Polk and East Hillsborough County, which had more damage, should be restored by Monday night. Some customers with more complex damage may take longer to restore."

Bartow Electric Utility had about 1,500 of its 12,600 customers without power as of 7 p.m. Saturday night, according to an update provided by City Clerk Jackie Pool. With more than 250 workers in the field, including 227 mutual aid personnel, the municipal utility estimates full power restoration by Tuesday.

Polk schools reopen

Polk County Public Schools Superintended Frederick Heid posted a statement Saturday evening saying schools will reopen Tuesday for students. At the time of the announcement, less than 25 school buildings remained without power.

Heid said the district needed the additional time to finish making post-storm repairs and cleanup after a number of school buildings were used as emergency shelters.

All district employees and school staff are expected to report Monday to help get the schools prepared to reopen.

Where the outages are: See Lakeland, Lake Wales, Polk County, power outage map as Hurricane Ian impacts Florida

The superintendent said he anticipates the district will be short-staffed on essential personnel, including bus drivers, upon reopening as many employees are dealing with consequences of the storm.

Many of the area's colleges including Florida Polytechnic University, Florida Southern College, Polk State College and Southeastern University announced plans to restart classes Monday.

Sorting through the debris

Polk County has been working to get roughly 40 contracted trucks certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin making rounds to pick up storm debris Monday, Nelsons said.

Residents are being asked to keep their storm debris separate from their regular trash and yard waste, as the county must abide by FEMA rules.

On Monday's first pass, the county's contracted vendor will move through picking up large tree limbs and trunks that have been stacked on the curb and roadside. Any smaller bags of tree and yard debris will be picked up on a second pass.

Property owners are asked to keep the larger tree trunk and limbs in separate piles from trees, mailboxes and other bagged debris or trash to ensure the truck's claws have enough space to operate.

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Brown paper bags are preferred to plastic bags for yard debris. Plastic bags may be opened to ensure that residents are putting out storm debris and not throwing away household trash. Residents should not put debris or trash out onto the streets.

For more information and answers to specific questions on debris cleanup can be gathered by calling the county's hotline at 1-800-375-0844.

Post-Ian Injuries

Lakeland Regional Health's medical center saw an increase in storm-related injuries since Friday afternoon such as with slips and falls, chainsaw injuries and carbon monoxide exposure due to generator use, spokeswoman Kendra Kramer said.

Kramer said all generators should be safely located outside of the house, away from windows and doors, to prevent exposure to dangerous fumes.

Has the river peaked?

County officials and other across Polk remain concerned about the potential flooding as water from Ian's rainfall makes its way downstream.

The Peace River's level appears to have steadily risen since Hurricane Ian to 10.8 feet as of Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service. It's considered in major flood stage, just shy of the river's all-time record high of 11.1 feet.

Bartow remains under a Flood Warning until further notice.

With no rain in the immediate forecast, the National Weather Services Advanced Hydrological Predication Service does not expect the river to rise any further and predicts the flooding should begin to retreat on Tuesday.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl. 

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County debris collection starts Monday, schools open Tuesday