After Hurricane Debby left the area, Monticello City Manager Seth Lawless jumped in his car to survey the damage.
“As I drive around, I see many homeowners and citizens raking up their debris, stacking it and cleaning up their property,” Lawless says.
The storm knocked down several trees and some caused what Lawless calls “major damage.” But the biggest concern for most Monticello residents, he says, is the loss of power.
“Here in Monticello we’ve been without power for two days,” Lawless said. “Last year, most of Monticello was without power for three days.”
Debby hit the Panhandle on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, leaving widespread power outages in its wake. Authorities are urging patience as crews work to turn the lights back on. Duke Energy hopes to restore power to residents in the hardest-hit areas by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. That includes customers in Jefferson, Taylor, Wakulla and Madison counties.
Duke spokesman Jeff Brooks says emergency crews are working to resolve two issues: damage to local power lines and poles, and damage to the transmission grid.
While crews work to restore power, neighbors are helping each other
“The way the power flows from our power plants to the communities is through our transmission system, which is the highway of the electric grid,” Brooks says. “This system takes the power from our power plants to the communities we serve, and where it arrives, we reduce the voltage using substations. You can think of it like an exit from the highway. Then we send the power to the communities through the poles and wires you see. So There is a problem with our transmission system and it is currently being repaired.”
And Brooks says work is also being done on the local routes.
“I was just on Wakeenah Highway and saw crews working to remove a tree and restore several power lines across multiple poles,” Brooks said.
Regan McCarthy
/
WFSU News
In Monticello, generators roar as neighbors come together to help each other after Debby.
Michelle Boucher makes sure her neighbors have clean laundry. She has hooked up her washing machine to a generator. But without electricity, her dryer doesn’t work. So she uses her fence as a makeshift clothesline.
“I have a two-way line in the dining room for the stuff that can’t get out here and be seen, and the other stuff I’ve put in direct sun, so I’ll be done by the end of the day,” Boucher says. “I have two more blankets and a load of sheets, but I’m not going to do the laundry until I get to the dryer. If that doesn’t work out and we don’t get light the next day, we’ll have to start doing (unnecessary things).”
Boucher, a Duke Energy customer, says the number of power trucks she’s seen in her neighborhood has her hopeful her power will be back on soon.
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