PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Residents of Sun Retreat Dunedin mobile home community have been living without power for almost three months.
"Happy that I am able to live in my house, but frustrated because everything is just taking so long," said Deb Leary, who also lives at Sun Retreat Dunedin.
Leary and her husband said Hurricane Helene spared their home from flooding, but it's been a struggle to get back to normal since.
"It's getting old really fast…that's pretty much how I can describe it… it's getting old. I'd like to be over this quarter of this adventure we have been on," said Leary.
At first, they were concerned about the heat without power for the air conditioning unit, but now they are concerned about the cold.
"Roll up in as many blankets as we can and try to sleep because we usually turn the generator off at night," said Leary.
They've been using generators and space heaters to get by.
"Why stay in a hotel if we can stay in your house, but we've had to deal with the generator, and going and getting gas and propane at least twice a week," said Leary.
Duke Energy said in a statement the neighborhood sustained damage to customer owned equipment.
Duke leaders said the restoration process involves having an electrician make repairs and then obtaining verification from the Local Building Inspection Authority.
Right now, Duke Energy is on standby ready to restore power once they get that verification from the County.
"We've been in this park since 1998, and we've never seen anything close to this," said Mihal.
Mihal is also fed up with the wait.
"That's all I can do is ride a bike without power, there's very little you can do…doing minor repairs, fixing skirting and things like that," said Mihal.
Leary hopes power is restored by Christmas.
"Every once in a while I have a meltdown, it's like I can't do this any longer," said Leary.
ABC Action News did contact both the Local Building Inspection Authority and the owners of Sun Retreats Dunedin and has not received a response at this time.
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