Pensacola Times

Gulf Power Company issued the following announcement on Sept. 18

As of 10 p.m., Gulf Power Company has restored service to 65% of our customers affected by Hurricane Sally, or more than 160,000 customers. Currently, less than 125,000 customers are out of power.

“In less than 48 hours since Hurricane Sally left our area, our storm restoration crews have been working day and night and have restored power to 65% of our customers that were affected by this storm,” said Marlene Santos, President of Gulf Power. “We know it’s difficult to be without power, but please know that our team of more than 7,000 is dedicated to getting the lights back on will not stop working until all of our customers have power restored.”

Restoration estimates

• Gulf Power announced initial restoration estimates on Thursday, Sept. 17. Power has essentially been restored to all customers who can accept electric service in:
  • Bay County
  • Jackson County
  • Holmes County
  • Washington County
  • Walton County
• We expect to restore power by the end of tonight to essentially all customers who can receive it in Okaloosa County.
• Based on initial assessments of the hardest-hit areas, we expect to restore 95% of customers who can receive power in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties by the end of the day on Tuesday, Sept. 22. It’s important to note that many customers will be restored before this date.
• We understand our customers need as much information as possible so you can make decisions for you and your family. On Saturday, Sept. 19, we will provide what areas within each county will be restored earlier than Tuesday.

Our restoration estimates are now available on Gulf Power’s outage map and are updated hourly.

Immediately after a storm, we use smart meter technology to determine if customers are out. If customers are off when their neighbors are on, or if there is a dangerous situation such as downed power lines or sparking equipment, please call Gulf Power at 1-800-GUPOWER (1-800-487-6937). Customers can report an outage on the Gulf Power Mobile app or Map.GulfPower.com.

What customers can do to help

• Please keep roads clear so our restoration crews can get to their next work site faster.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, if you see our crews at work, please remember to maintain proper social distancing.
• Avoid stopping crews to ask when power will be restored – this only slows down the process.

By the numbers as of 10 p.m. 9/18/20

• 285,000 customers affected
• Nearly 185,000 customers restored
• More than 7,000 restoration personnel
• 12 staging sites to get crews out to affected areas quickly

Original source can be found here.