More Than 16,000 Lost Power In Manatee County

MANATEE COUNTY, FL - More than 16,000 in Manatee County lost power when Tropical Storm Eta hit west central Florida Wednesday night and early Thursday.

According to Florida Power & Light Company's Power Tracker, 16,200 of their customers lost power at some point during the storm. As of 11 a.m. on Thursday, the company had restored power to 14,920 households and only 1,280 remain without power.

According to PowerOutage.US, though, as of 11 a.m., 1,485 FPL customers were without power. Another 12 households, customers of Peace River Electric Coop, also had no power.

The website tracked 221,235 customers in Manatee County. Of these, 194,725 are FPL customers, while 26,510 are with Peace River.

FPL tweeted Wednesday evening, “Approximately 9,000 personnel are responding to #Eta on the west coast, including many who were just restoring service in South Florida. The storm will affect multiple regions as it moves across our state over the next day.”

Sunday night, when Eta hit South Florida, more than 300,000 FPL customers lost power in the storm. By 10 a.m. on Monday, though, the electric company had restored power for more than 270,000 households, said Bryan Garner, director of communications, at a news conference. That’s more than 90 percent of the customers who were impacted at the time.

On Sunday, more than 12,000 out-of-state line workers joined FPL crews to restore power to its customers, he said. Earlier in the week, they worked during lulls in the storm and overnight, utilizing the company’s smart grid technology, to quickly restore power.

Those experiencing power outages don't need to alert FPL, Garner added. The smart grid technology allows workers to easily identify areas with no power. Downed power lines and other emergency situations can be reported by calling FPL at 800-4-OUTAGE (468-8243).

Find updated coverage about Tropical Storm Eta and it's aftermath in Florida from Patch here: Tropical Storm Eta: 1 FL Death, Flooding, All Warnings Canceled