Power in NFM, Cape Coral, Pine Island, Sanibel/Captiva, and Marco Island ‘essentially restored’
Power in North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Pine Island, Sanibel/Captiva, and Marco Island has been essentially restored, LCEC officials said Wednesday.
“Around-the-clock restoration will continue until everyone’s power has been restored,” a release from the electric co-op issued Wednesday morning states.
“While 201,000 LCEC customer have power today, 13,800 customers in Immokalee, Lehigh Acres, and on the south system, along with pockets of customers throughout the service territory, remain without power,” LCEC stated. “MOST customers in these areas, where the hurricane impacted the electric system the hardest, can expect restoration by September 22. There will be customers in these areas who may have damage to the infrastructure serving their specific location that will take longer to repair.”
Power in the areas of North Fort Myers, Pine Island, St. James City, Bokeelia, Useppa, Sanibel, Captiva, Cape Coral, Marco Island, Goodland, and Everglades City, have essentially been restored, meaning outages in these areas are isolated.
“There are small numbers of customers with more complex repairs, such as transformer or pole replacement in all areas,” the release states. “Crews will continue to work aggressively to address each isolated outage throughout the service territory. LCEC understands it is frustrating for these customers to see power all around them but they can rest assured crews will continue to work in their location until all power has been restored.”
The LCEC restoration plan, matching most utility response plans, entails five steps:
1. Damage assessment which continues throughout the plan.
2. Repair of main power lines and critical infrastructure.
3. Restoration in areas that require the least repair to get the largest number restored.
4. Return to repair smaller outages requiring more work – in hundreds of neighborhoods.
5. Follow-up to address specific important issues once restoration is completed.
When you are the only one in your neighborhood without power LCEC suggests:
1. Check to be sure the breaker is on.
2. If pipes or wires at the meter box are bent or broken, a licensed electrician must make repairs so that LCEC can restore power. Permits are not needed for emergency restoration but government inspections will be needed once power has been restored to ensure safety.
3. If the meter is damaged, LCEC will replace it to restore power.
4. Call 239-656-2300 and report an outage on the automated phone line , so localized damage can be tracked and addressed.
Source: LCEC