Posted on Wed, Oct. 26, 2005
POWER AND PHONES
Utilities warn: The worst may be yet to come
South Florida residents should expect days or weeks without electricity -- making other critical services harder to come by. And yes, it will be getting warmer soon.
BY SCOTT HIAASEN AND MONICA HATCHER
shiaasen@herald.com
As millions of South Floridians began to clean up the damage left by Hurricane Wilma, they found even the most basic functions -- getting cash, getting gasoline, getting a phone call out -- paralyzed by the storm-inflicted blackout that gripped more than 90 percent of the region.
For many, relief will be weeks away.
Because of the lack of power, land-line phones weren't working in nearly all of Broward County and parts of Miami-Dade County. Cellphone service -- already spotty at best -- could become increasingly unreliable in the days ahead.
Many Broward residents must boil their drinking water because of low water pressure -- another symptom of the blackout.
Schools in Miami-Dade and Broward will be closed for the rest of the week -- if not longer -- because of the lack of power. The courts are closed -- no power.
Power problems shut down Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, though Miami International Airport resumed flights late Tuesday.
For the moment, South Florida will largely be a cash-only economy -- but without many working ATMs. In Miami, the few gas stations with the power to pump fuel on Tuesday were surrounded by lines of desperate customers.
In sum, South Florida residents can expect more frustration in coming days -- days that soon will be getting hotter and stickier.
Monday's storm left more than three million people in darkness in South Florida alone. Florida Power & Light officials said it could take two to four weeks to fully restore power to the region.
Unlike in past storms, FPL suffered extensive damage from flying debris at transmission substations that transmit power to entire neighborhoods, company President Armando Olivera said. So FPL must repair not only downed power lines but the stations that feed them.
Olivera said crews were first bringing power to critical facilities like hospitals and utilities before targeting residential neighborhoods.
1.7 MILLION IN DARK
By Tuesday afternoon, FPL said it had restored power to 57,300 customers in Miami-Dade and 5,400 in Broward. More than 1.7 million customers in the two counties remained without power.
Port Everglades -- the distribution hub for much of the region's gasoline -- was expected to be back on line by late Tuesday.
State officials do not anticipate the shortages of gas that followed last year's hurricane season. There are 199 million gallons of gasoline available at the ports, and many gasoline retailers complied with the governor's request to store extra fuel, said Colleen Castille, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
But getting the gas out of the gas stations is the problem. Gas stations aren't considered critical facilities, so they receive power just as neighborhoods get restored.
At least one retail chain, Hess Petroleum, has committed to supplying generators to each of its gas stations, Castille said.
Where gas did become available, the people soon followed. Just moments after a shopping center on South Dixie Highway in Palmetto Bay lit up with power, drivers began lining up at the U-Gas station. Before long, more than 100 drivers were waiting.
''I just have to have gas,'' said Laura Saavedra of Cutler Ridge, who had crawled halfway to the pump after nearly an hour in line. ``Hope there's some left when I get there.''
Mass transit was slowed by the blackout. While Miami-Dade transit officials worked to repair damaged Metrorail lines, they said the system won't be working until they get electricity from Florida Power & Light.
''They can fix it, but we still need to wait for FPL,'' said Cynthia Martinez of the county's Office of Emergency Management. ``Without power, the Metrorail's not going to go anywhere.''
Phone service has been hampered by the power outage -- and it could get worse. A BellSouth spokeswoman said it may become harder for customers to find a dial tone if power outages persist.
''The earlier power went out in a neighborhood, the sooner that neighborhood will likely lose service,'' said spokeswoman Marta Casas-Celaya.
From Brevard County south through Monroe, BellSouth reported some 855,000 outages.
THREAT TO BACKUPS
Switching stations that route calls from neighborhoods into individual homes rely on electricity to operate. When the power goes out, back-up batteries and generators kick in to power these stations, Casas-Celaya said. Those batteries have a life of eight to 10 hours; and generators eventually can run out of fuel, cutting off service.
''The more people use phones and the longer they use them, the faster the backup batteries are going to drain,'' Casas-Celaya said.
Cellular phone service also relies on electricity. Cellphones are ''cellular'' only from the transmission tower to your handset. Transmission towers rely on land-line switching stations, which rely on power.
Without electricity, the cellular transmission towers rely on generators. But with time and increased demand, the generators can run out of fuel.
Water service was cut or disrupted throughout nearly all of Broward County, where dozens of water main breaks -- created by tree roots yanked free by the hurricane -- caused water pressure to drop. Service remained sporadic even after crews patched up the leaks Tuesday because low power at pumping stations left many cities unable to propel water into homes and businesses.
PIPE BREAKS
Fort Lauderdale suffered many serious water line breaks, but pressure began to return late Tuesday. Many other North Broward cities, including Deerfield Beach, Tamarac and Coconut Creek had no water. Broward Mayor Kristin Jacobs said she hoped all households would regain flowing water by Wednesday but said water service would hinge on how quickly FPL could restore power.
The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department is operating facilities on generators, and residents are being urged to conserve water.
Use water ''only for the basics,'' said Adriana Lamar, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department spokeswoman. ``This is not the time to be cleaning cars or sidewalks.''
She added that her department believes it has ''plenty of fuel'' for the generators until electricity is restored.
Meanwhile, Miami Beach is under orders to boil water after a boat apparently hit and ruptured a 16-inch water line Monday near the Venetian Causeway, Lamar said.
Other customers throughout Miami-Dade may be experiencing low water pressure while crews repair main lines broken by uprooted trees. Less than 100 customers are completely without water, but crews are working to restore their water lines, she said.
Herald staff writers John Dorschner, Tere Figueras Negrete, Mary Ellen Klas, Nikki Waller, Yudy Pineiro, Luisa Yanez and Donna Gehrke-White contributed to this report.
R E L A T E D C O N T E N T
People abandon their cars waiting
in line for water at Markham Park
in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma.
JOE RIMKUS JR./MIAMI HERALD STAFF
R E L A T E D L I N K S
� On the Web Estimated restoration times by county
� Utilities warn: The worst may be yet to come
� Glass failure in high-rises shocks experts
� 7 deaths, bill in billions and an unreal landscape
� Delayed ice giveaways get cold reception
� FPL substations `severely damaged'
� FEMA to offer money to victims
� 'At least we have our lives, you guys'
� Anxious drivers face a rough road ahead
� Taps down to trickle and unsafe for many
� Fine print may cut payout
� Gas plentiful, but most pumps still out of order
� Supply and demand: Ice never looked so good
� Boat Show: Docked and damaged
� Late storm sobers Florida tourists
� Signs of flood greet many on return to Keys
� Farmers suffer another major blow
� S. Florida hospitals contending with shortages
� Damage to shipping limited if ports open soon
� Passenger ships dodge hurricane and change itineraries
� For some migrants, everything is lost
� No classes now could shorten vacations later
� Storm wreaks havoc on Florida citrus farms
� Broward school brass copes, hopes
� Media struggled on-air as storm blew through
� Death toll climbs to 7 across the state
� Chaos rules at traffic stops
� Broward courthouse to be shut through next week
� Airports limping toward normalcy
� Garbage pickup -- he's the cleanup king
� After floods, saltwater a concern in Cuba
� Curfews help halt incidents of looting
� 15 dead, a dozen missing from Tropical Storm Alpha
� Hurricane center accurately predicted Wilma's path
� Courthouses to remain closed through next week in Broward
� SW Broward: Roughed up and `lucky'
� Battered hospitals struggling, filling up
� Mobile homes hit hard by storm
� Game delayed; rink damaged
� Electric lights become a powerful attraction
� Dade notebook Hurricane Wilma gave an unexpected blow to parts of South
� Historic building, Collier's first county seat, badly damaged
� Big hearts help small town heal
� For city firefighters, the calm came AFTER the storm
� Thirsty residents wait in line for water, ice
� List of Winn-Dixie, Publix and Home Depots that are open
� Panthers game delayed; practice rink is damaged
� Firefighters battle blaze, winds
� Reporter's notebook around Broward
� Disaster draws new neighbors together
� Hurricane Wilma in photos
� Submit your Wilma photos
� Recovering after the storm
� What's open/closed, city services
� All the weather maps
� Hurricane preparation guide
� More on Storm.Herald.com
� Report downed power lines
� Local airports unsure of opening
� FPL: Up to '4 weeks' to fix power
� Storm surge isolates islands
� `This is total. A disaster. I lost everything.'
� Canc�n in ruins; looters strike
� President Bush declares state disaster area, opens up aid
� Warnings couldn't stop damage
� Broward blown out
� Storm blasts Brickell area
� Hospitals function on emergency power
� The answers homeowners need to know
� Marinas, houseboats destroyed
� South Dade farmers: `The wind got us this time'
� Where to call if you have a damage claim
� Comcast cable assesses damage, seeks to restore service
� After the storm Advice for staying safe and caring for your home
� President declares disaster area
� Summary of Dade, Broward damage
� Blind Eye Miami Herald investigative report on problems with hurricane forecasting
� How to purify water
� How to help
� How to make an insurance claim
� The damage is 'heart-rending'
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