SEBASTIAN, Fla. — A community in Sebastian told WPTV they finally have power back on after spending six days in the dark and without air conditioning.
Jennifer Tehan, a resident on Beach Lane, reached out to WPTV with concerns, telling us even now her power keeps going on and off, impacting her son's medical needs and neighbor's worklives.
We sent WPTV's Kate Hussey to get them answers. She went home to home on Beach Lane speaking to residents and found many of them are elderly, disabled or have very specific medical needs.
Tehan, who has an autistic son prone to seizures, said it was a nightmare with her home heating to nearly 90 degrees with no air conditioning.
"It was just so hot, and having to go to work on three, four hours of sleep, and you do that for days on end," said Tehan. "And just being terrified the whole time that my son might have a seizure."
Tehan reached out to us for help, Tuesday night, and soon after around 6:30 p.m. she said power came back on, but said as of Wednesday it keeps going in and out. Consequently, so do her fans and AC unit.
"So now I'm worried it's going to damage my AC unit," said Tehan, concerned about possible power surges. "There are people here with health issues. This isn’t just an average person."
"My internet has been going in and out and I work from home, so it's hard," added her neighbor, who asked to go only by Mary.
Mary added she thought about getting a hotel room due to the heat and lack of internet access, but said all were filled up with evacuees from the West Coast.
"That wasn't an option," said Mary.
"Is FPL aware of this and working on the problem?" WPTV's Kate Hussey asked Florida Power and Light's Conlan Kennedy.
"[The flickering] is likely due to those aftermath and after effects of Hurricane Milton," said Kennedy. "We’re aware of it when it happens and we’re going to work to get their lights back on."
Kennedy said Milton was historic for the area, knocking out power for tens of thousands.
"You can see some of the destruction of the poles right here," said Kennedy, showing Hussey one of the hardest hit areas in Vero Beach.
Kennedy said the time to get power back on takes longer with a historic need, but said crews have been working around the clock to restore power and will continue to do so.
So far, Kennedy said 99% of Indian River County residents are back online.
"And we're not going to stop until every single customer gets lights back on," said Kennedy.
Neighbors on Beach Lane also showed WPTV the transformer that blew on Wednesday, and a voicemail residents sent to us told residents FPL equipment was damaged and needs to be replaced.
Mary showed us a brand new cable that runs from the transformer, and she said crews told her the cable was a temporary fix as they work on a permanent solution.
Kennedy said he couldn't confirm if that was the case, but said crews were working on resolving every power issue throughout the county, including Beach Lane's.
"We want all our customers to know, rest assured, even if we get you restored and your lights go back out, that we're going to work around the clock to get your lights back on," said Kennedy.
To check the status of a power outage click here.
To report an immediate danger involving your power, such as a downed power line, call 1-866-263-9186.
