LCEC power restoration progress in SWFL: What you need to know

Mark H. Bickel, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read

As of 6 a.m. Tuesday, LCEC is reporting that power has been restored to 45 percent of its customers across Southwest Florida.

More: Useful links to help you with post Hurricane Ian challenges in Lee County

More: Useful links to help you with post Hurricane Ian challenges in Collier County

In Cape Coral, where the power restoration efforts have been slow going, 13,057 LCEC customers were back on line, leaving more than 81,000 still without power.

In its morning release, LCEC said:

  • LCEC added an additional 700 line workers and tree-trimmers to the team working tirelessly to restore power throughout some of the hardest hit areas in the LCEC service territory.

  • These crews, working beside LCEC employees, will continue to repair main circuits in Lee County including the areas of Lehigh Acres and North Fort Myers.

  • A large complement of crews will also focus on restoring the backbone infrastructure in Cape Coral in order to enable more and more restoration of neighborhoods and businesses.

What about Collier County?

  • At the same time, crews are focused on wrapping up restoration in Collier and Charlotte Counties where the impact of Ian was also felt by customers in the LCEC communities of Everglades City, Immokalee, Golden Gate Estates, Marco Island, and Punta Gorda.

LCEC power update for Tuesday, Oct, 5, 2022.
LCEC power update for Tuesday, Oct, 5, 2022.

Duke Energy crews will arrive in SWFL tomorrow to help and will then be utilized to begin work on Pine Island later this week. The additional assistance and collaboration with the Governor’s office will continue until all power is restored to Pine Island and Sanibel.

Customers out of power at this time are urged to inspect and make repairs to their weather head and any damage to their home electric system if needed so they are able to receive power when restoration crews reach their area. Visit the LCEC Hurricane Guide to learn more.

LCEC reminds customers to stay away from downed power lines, turn off breakers until power is restored, and use generators safely to protect themselves and crews working on lines in their neighborhood.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hurricane Ian: Power restoration progress