FPL has restored power to most of its customers who lost power due to Hurricane Dorian.
pportal@miamiherald.com
Hurricane Dorian caused nearly 70,000 people in Florida to temporarily lose power in the last few days, Florida Power & Light said Tuesday night.
Power to most of those customers has been restored, but the company urged residents to “remain vigilant and prepare for an increased potential for power outages” through Wednesday as Hurricane Dorian continued to move up Florida’s coast.
“Dorian remains a dangerous hurricane just off the east coast of Florida,” Eric Silagy, FPL president and CEO, said in a news release. “Our hardworking men and women have been actively responding to outages resulting from Dorian’s outer bands of severe weather. As long as it is safe to do so, our crews will continue to restore customers and will not stop until every customer has been restored.”
And while Florida is not completely done with Dorian yet, FPL is making plans to help the Bahamas.
“As we have been restoring power to our customers as Dorian makes its way closer to Florida, our hearts go out to our neighbors in the Bahamas who have been devastated by Hurricane Dorian,” Silagy said. “While it is too soon to know the full extent of the damage, we stand at the ready to support the Bahamas in their time of need.”
Customers in low-lying areas and areas impacted by flooding and storm surge should stay off roads and stay indoors. Power interruptions may cause traffic signals to stop working without warning. Under Florida law, an intersection with a non-working signal must be treated as a four-way stop.
Customers should also heed Florida’s Move Over Law, which requires drivers to move over and slow down whenever there is a utility worker, law enforcement officer or first responder on the side of the road.
As restoration continues, there are a few ways customers can help:
▪ Avoid stopping crews to ask when power will be restored. Directing questions to FPL restoration workers slows down their work and, more importantly, can compromise their safety. Typically, restoration workers don’t know restoration times. They’ve been assigned to a single segment of an affected line. FPL will provide estimated times of restoration through the media, the FPL App, Facebook, Twitter and FPL.com.
▪ When you’re out driving, clear the way for FPL trucks so that crews can get to their next work site faster.
▪ When gathering post-storm debris, keep utility poles and transformers clear so that restoration workers have access to them.