Additional FPL employees working to restore Longboat Key power

More than 2,000 Longboat Key residents are still without power as of Wednesday afternoon.

In an email to town commissioners, Town Manager Dave Bullock said of the 10,400 accounts on Longboat Key, 2,190 were without power as of 4 a.m. on Sept. 13.

Bullock met with Florida Power & Light Co. on Sept. 13 and noted that the utility company was aware of the outages. Based on their assessment, FPL said most outages are the result of feeder failures on the mainland.

An additional 560 workers arrived in the Sarasota and Manatee counties Wednesday to work on the power lines and and restoring the feeders.

Bullock shared that once feeders are restored, power in large areas of the Key should return. Once that happens, FPL will work on smaller outages that could be due to downed lines.

At this time, Bullock cannot say when power will be restored.

He reminded residents to continue to be patient. In the meantime, the Town Hall Commission Chamber is being opened as a “comfort station” to those without power.

Susan Phillips, assistant to the town manager, wrote in an email that residents should go to 501 Bay Isles Road and go in the front door nearest the flagpole, then go to the immediate left.

Aside from air conditioning, there will be beverages, coffee, light snacks, charging stations for cell phones and other electronic devices and free Wi-Fi. All commodities are free to those that need them courtesy of Michael Renick. 

The comfort station, which is being run by volunteers organized by the Longboat Key Garden Club, will run from 9 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m. the rest of the week on an as-needed basis.