Eye on the Tropics

Orange County family still without power more than a month after Hurricane Irma

A power meter and wiring damaged during Hurricane Irma that has gone unrepaired for more than a month has left one Orange County family frustrated and literally in the dark.
Duke Energy responded to the Town and Country Mobile Home Park to assess the damage, but said it was the property owner’s responsibility to repair the power meter and associated wiring, Shawn Kelly said.
When they called the park managers, they sent someone out, but he wasn’t an electrician and only made the situation worse, Karl Kelly said.
“The meter box caught on fire and started shorting stuff out inside our house,” he said.

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Since then, nothing has been done to repair the power meter and Duke Energy can’t turn the power on until it is fixed, Shawn Kelly said.
She worries for the well-being of her children, who have been forced to live in the Florida heat for more than a month.
“My son has asthma so bad, in the heat he can have a severe asthma attack,” she said. “I’m a discouraged mother. I just want my children to be safe.”
Fortunately, neighbors have stepped up to help her family, Kelly said.
“Running extension cords to keep food for our kids. Allowing us to use their stove. Allowing them to use hot water to take showers to be able to go to school, or the school would call us and say our kids are dirty,” she said.
When Channel 9 contacted Eastern General Realty Group, which manages the property, an official apologized for the delay and said that a local electrician will be there to fix the damage Thursday morning.
Karen Parks

Karen Parks, WFTV.com

Karen Parks is a reporter at WFTV.