Florida Keys Electric Cooperative estimates that between 4,500 and 5,500 of
its member-consumers were without power at the peak of Hurricane Katrina's
pass by the Upper and Middle Keys early Friday morning. By 10:30 a.m., all
but approximately 1,500 to 2,000 of those customers were restored.
Approximately 1,600 consumers in Key Largo lost power near 2:30 a.m. when a
fallen tree shorted one of FKEC's distribution circuits. Those affected were
on the Bayside between mile marker 98 and 101. Most of those members were
restored by 8:25 a.m. when FKEC crews were able to safely isolate the
problem area from the ground.
A different distribution circuit on Plantation Key was shorted by roofing
material draped over the lines. Approximately 1,200 members were affected
from 1 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. when the material was discovered and carefully
removed by FKEC linemen.
FKEC crews began working on repairs from the ground as soon as conditions
allowed. Bucket trucks could not be safely operated until winds dropped
below tropical storm force.
Local repair efforts will now be expedited with the assistance of three
crews from Glades Electric Cooperative from Moore Haven, Florida. Glades
provides electrical service to Highlands, Glades, Okeechobee and Hendry
counties and sent crews to the Keys upon request from FKEC.
FKEC is again staffing a live call center with volunteers working 12-hour
shifts to answer and log outage reports. As always, FKEC members are
encouraged to be patient and to please call back if all lines are busy
during a high outage event.
The outage reporting number is 852-2431 in Tavernier and 743-5344 in
Marathon. These numbers provide access to either FKEC's automated outage
reporting system or to a live volunteer, when available. Once an outage is
logged in the automated system, there is no need to call back.
FKEC serves more than 31,000 accounts from the Monroe County Line down to
the top of the Seven Mile Bridge. FKEC CEO Tim Planer attributes the
relatively low outage rate to the fact that the system did not experience
more than tropical storm force winds and to the company's tree trimming
efforts and recent system improvements.
"As we saw during Hurricane Dennis and now during Katrina, FKEC's
Right-of-Way Tree Crews have really done an excellent job keeping our local
power lines clear of tree limbs," Planer said. "In addition, we are focused
on upgrading our system so that fewer consumers are affected by a fallen
tree or a blown fuse. Where once entire neighborhoods or areas would be
knocked out together, outages can now be limited to single streets or even
just a few houses."
Tree limbs touching or falling on power lines cause the majority of power
outages during high winds, which is why FKEC encourages home and business
owners to look up before installing landscaping and to keep existing trees
trimmed safely away from overhead lines.
