VIDEO: Restoration update
Pensacola, Fla. — Gulf Power crews and more than 250 outside crews have restored more than 35,000 outages since Hurricane Nate impacted Northwest Florida. The energy provider said there were fewer outages than expected because of recent modernization the power grid, and because the area did not receive the stronger winds that were originally predicted.
“We’ve made great progress today in getting the lights back on for many of our customers, but we’re prepared for more outages with Nate’s lingering bands still moving through the central and eastern parts of Northwest Florida,” said Kimberly Blair, Gulf Power spokesperson. We will be working day and night until power is restored to every one of our customers.”
After Hurricane Nate made landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi early this morning with 85 mph winds, it quickly lost strength as it moved across Northwest Florida and turned to the northeast. As of 1:30 p.m., 1,889 Gulf Power customers, mostly in Okaloosa County, are still without power. All customers in Bay, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties are fully restored from storm related outages. Power is expected to be restored to all Escambia and Santa Rosa county customers by 8 p.m. Areas in Okaloosa and Walton County still experiencing effects of Nate’s last trailing band should expect all storm related outages restored by 10 p.m.
“Restoring power is a team effort and we want to thank our customers because we couldn’t do it without their patience and understanding,” Blair said.
Georgia Power crews from Southern Company and energy providers from Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida are also assisting with power restoration.
Gulf Power will continue to update its customers with timely information through its Gulf Power app, website, news media and social media.
Safety tips for after a storm
- Treat any downed wire as if it is energized because you can’t tell by looking if a downed wire is live or not. Telephone or cable television wires that are touching a power line could become energized and should also be avoided. Call 911 to report the location of any downed lines.
- Don’t attempt to repair the electrical system or pull tree limbs off lines. Let our trained work crews perform this potentially dangerous work.
- Stay clear of areas where there is a lot of debris or downed trees because it could conceal an energized power line. Also stay clear of chain link fences which may be energized if touching a downed line.
- If you have an electric generator, please ensure that you have isolated your home or business from the utility electrical service lines by opening main breakers or other devices. Do not connect portable generators to your household electrical wiring. This can cause serious injury to you and to our employees working on the lines in your neighborhood. Connect only essential appliances – such as freezers and refrigerators — directly to the generator.
- If your power is off, turn off large appliances and air conditioners and wait 10 to 15 minutes after power has been restored before turning them back on.
- If there is damage to your meter box or the pole on top of your meter box, you must first have an electrician make repairs before we can restore your service.
- If there is flooding in your home or business, we may be unable to restore electric service until the building is inspected by city or county code officials.
- Stay away from areas where our crews are working. If driving, follow road signs, drive cautiously and follow directions in the area of a work crew.
- Please be patient. Our crews will work as fast as safety allows. Before neighborhood lines can be worked on, our crews must first repair larger lines that bring power to neighborhoods.
How customers can connect with us
• To get the latest updates on outages, customers can download Gulf Power’s app and access the outage map for the latest restoration information. The app is free and available for iPhone and Android. Just search for “Gulf Power” in iTunes or the Google Play Store.
• Customers can follow Gulf Power updates on Facebook or Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/gulfpowercompany or http://www.twitter.com/gulfpower.
• Sign up for free PowerOut alerts through your cell phone by texting REG to MyGulf (694853). Or, visit the Preference Center in the My Account area of MyGulfPower.com to choose whether to receive texts, emails or phone calls with outage updates.
• Gulf Power knows when your power is out. However, you can call 1-800-487-6937 if you have any questions about your outage.
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Crews restoring power overnight
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About Gulf Power
Gulf Power is an investor-owned energy provider with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Gulf Power serves more than 460,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely provide exceptional customer value by delivering reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible electricity while strengthening our communities. Visit online at MyGulfPower.com or on the company’s Facebook page. News information can be found at GulfPowerNews.com.