PALM CITY, Fla. — WPTV listened to many neighbors in Palm City who lost power during this winter weather.
WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield found out from Florida Power & Light (FPL) that the cold weather could put a strain on equipment, causing many of these outages.
WATCH: Cold snap causes widespread power outages
A chorus of generators could be heard in the Cypress Lake Neighborhood.
“You can't run heat if you don’t have power,” said neighbor Brenda Brostek.
Brostek’s power went out Sunday afternoon.
“My next-door neighbor, her mother was in hospice,” said Brostek. “It kinda made it hard for her. She had to call hospice to take her to the hospice house."
Teri Reed and her husband’s power went out too.
“Reminds me of how I don’t like camping,” said Reed’s husband.
But they said they’re prepared.
Weather News
Thousands lose power as cold strains FPL grid
“We have coolers, went to Publix last night to get some ice. They thought I was crazy, ‘Why are you getting ice when it’s so cold,’” said Reed.
Martin County is still dealing with hundreds of outages. As of 4 p.m. Monday, roughly 636 residents were still without power.
FPL said some heating systems can use two to three times more electricity than air conditioning, which can cause problems.
“We were under three blankets last night,” said Linda Pick, who lives with her husband Robert in the Westwood Country Estates neighborhood.
Their outage is familiar, as they’ve dealt with transformer issues for years.
“It's been a problem for the past 10, 15, years,” said Pick. “We had cold hot dogs and beans and cold buns because we didn't have power.”
Their neighbor Carol Albright also lost power.
“I lived in turtleneck, sweatshirt, winter coat, gloves, socks, slippers, the whole nine yards and a blanket,” said Albright.
Crews restored their power and Albright said FPL told her they will be replacing the transformer.
“I’ve got it cranked up,” said Albright. “So should it go out, at least my house is little warmer.”
FPL said they have crews actively working on the Treasure Coast and in Palm Beach County to get the power back on.
