Post Hurricane Irma Restoration Ongoing
SECO Energy’s crews along with contract line and tree trimming crews continued the post Hurricane Irma restoration effort throughout the day Thursday and into the early morning hours on Friday. Restoration and recovery in some communities is a long process due to significant damage and flooding. Less than 23,000 of the almost 200,000 SECO members remain without power according to SECO’s Storm Center outage map.
Not all of the areas on Thursday’s feeder work designated on our interactive outage map were fully restored. Significant damage and flooding in certain areas curtailed restoration work. SECO understands that members with prolonged outages are frustrated. Restoration progress has slowed down as crews have moved into the most heavily damaged areas. Crews continued to work into the night, the restoration effort in the areas with the most damage is time-consuming. Friday’s forecast calls for a 70% chance of thunderstorms. Lightning conditions during restoration today will cause line work to come to an abrupt stop.
Florida mandates that facilities such as hospitals, shelters, schools and government offices are given highest priority when restoration begins. SECO restored power to these facilities first. Assisted-living, non-hospital medical facilities, nursing homes, gas stations and communications towers running on generator power began running out of fuel Thursday. These necessarily became a priority. SECO’s crews are pulled in many directions so members may see crews leaving residential areas that are not yet completely restored. Homes in one subdivision on one side of the street may have power while the other side does not. This can occur where one line ends and another line begins.
The electric system design is complicated, and we’ve developed an online visual to help members understand where the feeders/lines are located. SECO’s interactive restoration plan map was updated overnight to reflect Friday’s planned restoration areas. Members can use the daily restoration plan map to input their service address and determine if their area is included in the current day’s restoration plan. Substations are labeled as a reference and feeders are outlined in polygons. To use the map, visit www.SECOEnergy.com and hover over “Contact Us” in the top right corner. Select “Daily Restoration Plan.”
The following is a summary of substations and feeders where crews are or will be TODAY performing repairs and restoration:
Sumterville District Office:
• Gospel Island substation off Turner Camp Road in Citrus County.
• Lady Lake substation off Griffin Avenue in Lake County.
• Wildwood substation north of CR-222 in Sumter County.
• Floral City substation off E. Floral Park Drive in Lake County.
• Bushnell substation in Sumter County on CR-48.
• Lake Panasoffkee substation on CR 416N in Sumter County.
• Sumterville substation on South Hwy 301 in Sumter County.
• Webster substation on CR 753 in Sumter County.
Groveland District Office:
• South Highway substation in Groveland on SR-33 in Lake County.
Eustis District Office:
• Astatula substation on CR 561 in Lake County.
• Deer Island substation on CR 448 in Tavares.
• Howey substation in Howey-in-the-Hills in Lake County.
• Linadale substation in Umatilla in Lake County.
• St. Johns substation in Lake County off Lake Mack Drive in Deland.
• Umatilla substation in Lake County off of CR-450A.
• Paisley substation off Maggie Jones Road in Lake County.
Ocala District Office:
• Dallas substation serving CR-42 and Hwy 301 in Marion County.
• Belleview substation serving Belleview and Summerfield in Marion County.
• Timberwood substation in Marion County off 60th Avenue in Ocala.
• Westwood Acres substation in Ocala off SW 140th Ave in Ocala in Marion County.
• Martel substation in NW Ocala off 110th Ave in Marion County.
• Ocala substation on SW 80th Street in Marion County.
• Blitchton substation on NW Hwy 464 in Morriston.
• Marion Oaks substation in Ocala on SW 134 Loop in Marion County.
• Rainbow Lakes substation in Dunnellon on SW 33 Street in Marion County.
Please keep in mind that Hurricane Irma just left SECO’s service area late Monday morning. Even the storms of 2004 didn’t hit SECO’s area this hard and with this much damage. The system disruption is unprecedented and SECO is doing its best to quickly and fully recover.
During this time of prolonged outages from Hurricane Irma, if you are using a generator, never let it operate in an enclosed space such as your home, garage or enclosed porch. Generators emit carbon monoxide, a silent, odorless killer. There are multiple reports of Central Floridians who have been rushed to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, and some of these cases were fatal. Read and follow manufacturer’s safety warnings when operating a generator.
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.
