MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A light pole at the entrance of Port Salerno community has not been replaced after being damaged from a tornado caused by Hurricane Milton.
It’s been more than three months since Hurricane Milton hit Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast areas, leaving a path of destruction from a tornado outbreak.
For people living in one community off Cove Road in Port Salerno, they are concerned about their safety after a light pole at the entrance of the neighborhood was damaged by the storm and has yet to be replaced.
For now, residents of Country Club Cove, like Eileen Jones, tell WPTV reporter Tyler Hatfield that they have to use tiki torches in order to light up the entrance, so they can see it at night.
“It's pitch black down the street,” said Jones.
Jones told WPTV it’s so dark now, that some residents can't find the entrance at night.
“When you're driving down the road, you drive right past it,” said Jones.
Back in October, a tornado from Hurricane Milton took out the light pole, two out of four streetlamps and damaged multiple homes in the community.
Jones said crews finally picked up the pole at the entrance, just after the New Year and put a traffic cone in its place.
Jones said without the light, it becomes a safety hazard for people getting in and out of the neighborhood.
To get their entrance out of the dark, Jones said one neighbor put up tiki torches.
“It's a band aid,” said Jones. “It's a fix, a temporary fix.”
Jones told me neighbors and members of the HOA have contacted Florida Power and Light to replace the light since October.
“Get out here and put up the lights that we're paying for and put this big one up out front, so we can get in and out of the neighborhood,” said Jones.
Jones said FPL already has work orders out to fix the street lamps inside the neighborhood.
I brought the neighbors concerns about the repairs of the light at the entrance to FPL.
FPL spokesperson Kamrel Eppinger said the following in a statement:
“Due to the devastation caused by recent hurricanes, FPL has experienced delays for streetlight repairs. We’re aware of the streetlight outage in Country Club Cove in Martin County and are striving to have repairs completed by the end of the week. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate our customers’ patience as we work to make the necessary repairs safely and quickly as possible.”
