INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Thursday morning thousands of Indian River County residents woke up without power after hurricane Nicole whipped through the area.
Neighbors told WPTV after just about every storm they can always expect to be without power.
Linemen near Highland Drive and US-1 worked around the clock to get neighbors back up and running.
"There are approximately 16,600 locations without power," FPL said during a news conference.
The power outage comes after Hurricane Nicole brought strong, gusty winds to the Treasure Coast late Wednesday night and into early Thursday morning.
"We have ceiling fans, because of the generators but no air condition," said Kim Duong. "We can’t cook unless we do it on the grill."
Duong said her power went off just before 9 o’clock Wednesday night, leaving her and family to brave the storm in the heat.
"Well, it’s a little frustrating, because I can’t get up to make coffee in the morning," she said. "So, you just have to learn to adapt."
Duong is not the only one frustrated about losing power.
"You need power for everything," said Jim johnson. "When you don’t have it, you realize how bad you need it."
Fortunately both have generators to rely on—a lesson they learned years ago when Hurricane Jean and Frances left them with out power for weeks.
"So, we had to get ice everyday for the coolers for our food. We lost food, but now that we have the generators," Duong said. "We can at least hook our generator up and run our refrigerator, so we don’t lose our food."
WPTV reached out to FPL and they said neighborhoods with lots of trees, like this one, are vulnerable to power outages, especially with a storm like Nicole.
When it comes to restoration efforts, FPL anticipates power will be back on with in days a few instead of weeks.
