BRADENTON, Fla. — Sarasota and Manatee counties are reporting the highest numbers of residents with power outages in the Tampa Bay area.
“We haven’t had power probably since 5:30 on the 28,” said Anna Harold.
When Harold moved to Bradenton seven months ago from upstate New York, she never thought she would experience days without power due to a historic hurricane.
“It’s hard. We’ve done what we can do. I kind of stocked up on propane tanks before all the area ran out,” said Harold.
Meanwhile, Florida Power and Light is working around the clock to get power restored to residents while highlighting some of the difficulties they face in this effort.
“No matter how much concrete or steel you put in, if an oak tree goes over, they’re going to take out a pole, a line is going to go down and that’s an area we’ll have to repair and rebuild,” said Eric Silagy with Florida Power and Light.
“I do not expect Sarasota and Manatee counties to be restored by the end of the business day. I wish I could tell you that that were the case, but there are still areas where we have not been able to get access, other than using our drones because of high water,” said Silagy.
Silagy said they have thousands of people working in both Sarasota and Manatee counties trying to restore their clients’ power.
In the meantime, they have a special warning for those who are using generators.
“Please, for those who are, pay attention to the instructions on those. Do not use the portable generators in the garage or in your carport next to an open window,” said Silagy.
He said the reason why is because those generators can emit carbon monoxide in your home.
“People every single storm, unfortunately, die from carbon monoxide poisoning because they don’t properly use a backup generator.”