OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. — Earl Wooten, public safety director for Okeechobee County, said there were around 3,000 outages from Thursday to Friday due to Helene.
Some of the highest power outage numbers in our area happened in Okeechobee County.
Wooten said crews have been working day and night to restore power. He said now it’s down to a few dozen outages.
Milagros Erazo, who lives on 27th Avenue in Okeechobee, is one of those few.
“You take things for granted,” said Erazo. “And that's one of the things, you got to have your electricity.”
Erazo said she lost power on Friday at 10 a.m.
She said Thursday’s storm and Friday’s heat advisory is a dangerous duo.
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“It's hot out here. Trying to keep my house cool, by not opening the door. My refrigerator, I've got food in there, I hope it doesn't go bad,” said Erazo.
Lawrence Smith lives a street over on 26th avenue.
He’s also without power.
“Got two fans running, got that generator out, kicking butt,” said Smith. "I've got my refrigerator and freezer plugged up. Hope I don't lose nothing."
The county said trees on power lines caused many of the 3,000 outages Thursday into Friday.
Neighbors in Okeechobee told WPTV they’re now anxiously awaiting an update about when their lights will come back on.
“I've called FPL four times,” said Erazo. “They’ve just said they don't have an update.”
WPTV's coverage of Hurricane Helene:
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