Hurricane Restoration Continues Across Central Florida
Hurricane restoration continues across Central Florida with SECO Energy diligently working to restore power to the over 110,000 members without power after Hurricane Irma ravaged its service territory. SECO crews along with hundreds of contracted line and tree crews are deployed to all counties.
SECO crews and contracted line and tree crews worked overnight restoring power to members. Because of the significant damage, SECO is diligently calling for more man-power and additional resources to speed up restoration efforts. SECO members were understandably frustrated yesterday with the seeming lack of progress and information on restoration activities. About half of SECO’s system was on the ground Monday morning after Hurricane Irma blasted directly through the center of its service territory.
After Monday’s restoration began and the overnight efforts continued, and 25,000 of the 110,000 members without power had their service restored. The following is a summary of Monday’s restoration progress:
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• Tree and line crews spent Monday afternoon in Citrus County working on a feeder served by SECO’s Inverness substation serving 2,210 members. Service to that feeder and substation is anticipated to be restored by Tuesday afternoon.
• 3,000 of the 3,626 Sumter County members served by our Lake Ella substation (Fruitland Park) feeder 4 were restored Monday evening. The remaining members will have service restored Tuesday.
• Almost 2,000 members in Sumter County served by our Continental (Wildwood) substation’s feeder 4 were restored Monday evening. An additional 431 members on this feeder will see full restoration by around noon today.
• Our Timberwood substation on 60th Ave in Ocala feeder 2 had 1,000 members restored, feeder 3 had 150 members restored and feeder 4 had 1,300 members restored.
• 600 members served by our Belleview substation have had their service restored Monday evening.
• 801 members served by our Waterways substation in southwest Marion County have had their service restored.
• 80 members served by our Summerglen substation near I-75 in Marion County have had their service restored.
• 500 members served by our Dallas substation near Summerfield have had their service restored.
• 241 members Lake County, Astatula area have had their service restored – more members will be restored Tuesday in this community as crews continue to make progress.
• 100 members served from our St John’s substation in the Lake Mack area have had their service restored.
• Almost 3,000 members served from two of our six feeders from our Clermont substation have had their service restored.
• 200 members served by our Linadale substation off 42 in Lake County near Umatilla have had their service restored Monday night.
• 1,400 members served by our Groveland substation have had their service restored.
More members will see power restored today and we will update social media and customer service as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that Hurricane Irma just left SECO’s service area late Monday morning. Even the storms of 2004 didn’t hit the area this hard with this much damage. It is unprecedented and SECO is doing its best to fully recover.
Seek shelter if you or your loved ones need power to run life-saving medical devices. Floridians can access www.floridadisaster.org/shelters for shelter information by county, including general population shelters, pet-friendly shelters and special needs shelters.
If you are using a portable or backup generator, never let it run in enclosed spaces. Generators emit carbon monoxide gas that is a silent, odorless killer. Ensure these are connected correctly. Do not tamper with a meter to connect a generator as this requires a licensed electrician. Safety tips and storm preparation tips are available on SECO’s website.
To avoid scams and dangers, do not accept restoration or tree trimming assistance from someone who is asking for payment on the spot and is not a SECO employee or contractor. Under no circumstances would SECO ask for payment in the field during a restoration event. Do not attempt to reconnect services yourself.
As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, SECO is dedicated to being our members’ first source for accurate storm information. “Like” SECO’s Facebook page and “follow” the company on Twitter to stay updated about storms affecting our area.
