‘We know our customers depend on the essential service we provide — safe, reliable power — to plan their lives and get back on their feet.’
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Duke Energy reports that power has been restored to the majority of its Florida customers who lost electricity during Hurricane Isaias. The company’s crews worked through the weekend to bring service back online after the storm swept through the region.
Isaias made landfall Friday night near Destin as a Category 2 hurricane, then moved inland. By Sunday morning, its post-tropical remnants were dumping heavy rain on the mid-Atlantic region, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Duke crews faced the task of restoring electricity to as many as 10,000 homes and businesses. By Saturday evening, most of those customers had their power back, according to company officials. In North Florida, the bulk of Duke’s customers are located in Wakulla and Taylor counties, areas that saw some of the heaviest impacts from the storm.
“The strategic investments we’ve made in a stronger, smarter grid are delivering clear benefits for customers — reducing outages, limiting their duration and helping us restore power faster when severe weather strikes,” Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida’s Storm Director, said in a news release.
“We know our customers depend on the essential service we provide — safe, reliable power — to plan their lives and get back on their feet after storms like this one. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we wrap up our power restoration.”
Ahead of Isaias, Duke Energy pre-positioned crews and equipment from across Florida to speed up the response. After the storm passed, teams worked to identify and de-energize downed lines, repair substations and transmission equipment, and restore power first to critical facilities such as hospitals, emergency services, and water treatment plants.
Statewide, Duke Energy serves about 2 million customers, with the largest concentrations in the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida. In the Big Bend region, the company provides electricity to more than 10,000 customers in Wakulla and Taylor counties, communities that often find themselves in the path of severe weather.
At least four deaths have been linked to the storm, including two people killed when trees fell on homes in Florida and Alabama, The Associated Press reported. Forecasters warned that flooding could extend into the Appalachians, the AP reported.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center is forecasting widespread flash flooding from the remnants of Isaias across the mid-Atlantic region. That area stretches from New York to Kentucky.
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