September 15, 2017

Hurricane Irma Special Update 28

Assistant Director of Lake Worth Electric Utilities, Walt Gill, got a moment to update us after crew roll out this morning on how yesterday went and to give a few important pieces of information.

Late last night Walt sent over the following written report:

"Post Day 4 (Thursday 9/13/17) - another good day.

We rolled out into the field early again this morning, and after a plan brief, safety brief and area assignments, the Minnesota crews rolled out shortly after they arrived at 9am. Lake Worth Electric Utility was able to energize 8 more system circuits, that means that out of the 41 circuits within the Lake Worth Electric Territory, 7 circuits are left to re-energize. Approximately 70% of the system has been restored, which equates to 18,596 customers. This leaves 7,814 customer outages. For those of you that are still without power, please continue to be patient, for rest assured, we are on our way.

Key pick-ups today: Lake Worth Golf Course, Palm Springs Elementary School, North Grade Middle School and Sacred Heart Catholic School, this means all of Lake Worth’s schools within the territory have been energized.

Tomorrow (Friday 9/14/17, Post Day 5), we’ll hit it again nice and early, continuing to restore power."

For the rest of the week a regular pickup schedule will be to be followed. A Hurricane related vegetation amnesty will be in place allowing 6 rather than the usual 4 cubic yards of vegetation, this is equal to roughly 3 regular refrigerators in size. Vegetation must be cut to lengths not exceeding 3ft. Stumps must be less than 15" in diameter. Please place all vegetation on the ground separated from any other debris. Do not use the Green and Black vegetation container. There will be NO recycling pickup this week.

One thing you can do to help speed up your recovery is take a look at the service wire running to your house follow it to the house (without touching or making physical contact) and if there is visible damage to the weatherhead (marked) or the pipe carrying the entrance cable (marked) to your electric meter, such as it hanging off the wall, then contact an electrician so that when power is restored you are not delayed in getting yours back. Otherwise when crews come through they will cut the service wire and take it back to the pole for safety purposes and then move on to the next house. You will still need to call the electrician but it will add time to your power being restored. Under NO circumstances should you try to conceal damage to the weatherhead, the pipe or the entrance cable if it is hanging off your wall call a certified electrician to make the repair. If you put it back yourself you risk electrocution or house fires which the City will not be liable for.

Please give linemen some space. They are unable to give time estimates on power restoration and time spent talking with you is time not on the lines. Just give them a shout of support and a thumbs up and let them continue to restore the power.

We started with the circuits which will bring the most customers online in the shortest period of time. This does mean though that there is a possibility that your neighbors will have power before you if the line to your house took damage but rest assured we will be back and get every customer back on line as quickly as possible.

As power begins to be restored you can help by turning off your AC unit, if you do not have power and ensuring that sensitive electronics are unplugged. These two actions can greatly help a smooth transition to your power returning. Once power is restored please wait 15 minutes then feel free to turn AC back on and plug your electronics back in. If you have a downed power line on your property remember to leave it alone and call us at 561.586.1695

If you still don't have power please also check your oven and stove now and make sure they are turned off to avoid accidental fires when power is returned.

City employees work hard to clean up the parks for residents to enjoy.