'Got to go back to the Stone Age': Lakeland residents make do without electricity
LAKELAND — The aroma of charcoal and meat wafted from the front porch of a home on Kettles Avenue.
Shane Terrell manned the grill Friday afternoon, serving up hamburgers, sausage and chicken for his partner, Santana Manning, and their nine children ranging in age from 3 to 20. It was the only option for cooking, as power remained out at their home and others in the northwest Lakeland neighborhood known as “the Bottoms.”
“You’ve got to learn how to survive,” said Terrell, 39. “Got to go back to the Stone Age, rub some sticks together.”
After a laugh, he added: “Nah, it ain’t all that bad. It gives these kids some time without the video games. They’ve got no choice but to be outside now.”
As he spoke, one his boys pedaled around on a bicycle.
Terrell and Manning said they expected to be without power for a few days.
“I was riding around, and there are some (homes) messed up worse than ours,” Terrell said. “I’d be happy to get the lights back up by Monday.”
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As of Friday afternoon, Lakeland Electric reported about 1,200 active outages affecting more than 21,000 customers.
A loss of power means not having air conditioning. Hurricane Ian left surprisingly cool weather in its wake on Thursday, but the temperature had climbed into the 80s by Friday afternoon.
“Thankfully, it’s been cool, but it don’t look like it’s going to be cool tonight,” Terrell said with a chuckle. “Looks like it’s going to be an old-fashioned hotbox tonight.”
The couple said they had an elderly neighbor whose family had taken her to stay with them until power was restored.
Around the corner on Whitehurst Street, Manning’s mother, Rose Burns, sat in a vehicle parked in her driveway, charging her cell phone. Burns, 53, has her two sons and her daughter-in-law living with her.
Burns said she and her neighbors endured some harrowing moments as Hurricane Ian passed through Wednesday night. Something struck a window in Burns’ house, breaking the glass. As the winds surged into the house, Burns’ son ventured outside and brought a door inside to cover the opening.
Burns said she was washing dishes Wednesday night when the lights began to flicker. Within moments, an electrical transformer on her street apparently exploded.
“I came to the front door, and by the time I closed it and stepped back into the front room it was the brightest light I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said. “I went into a karate move because it scared me.”
She said an electrical line fell onto a house across the street, but all in the house escaped without injuries.
Burns said her house, built in 1945, has a slightly leaky roof. She was grateful not to experience the same level of flooding she suffered after Hurricane Irma in 2017.
“You got to be strong,” Burns said. “You can’t fall weak. I’m a strong one.”
After nearly two days without electricity, everything in Burns’ refrigerator had spoiled.
“We done lost the food,” Burns said. “Hopefully some neighbors will bring some food or come around and cook us something.”
Burns said she visited a friend Thursday night to take a hot bath and watch the news on TV. She recalled going more than a week without power after Hurricane Irma. She seemed to expect a repeat of that misery.
“I think it’s going to be a while — at least a week or two,” she said. “It’s a sitting, waiting game, just like fishing. You can call and call, but you can’t rush it. We’re not the only ones without power.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Hurricane Ian: Some 27,000 Lakeland Electric customers cope, wait for power
