Inside look: JEA crews restoring power

Some JEA customers who’ve been without power since Hurricane Matthew hit on Friday are finally getting some relief, while thousands of others wait and wonder when it will be their turn.

“It was just, hooray! Yay! I quickly got on my phone and let my family know that they were here,” said Della Caldwell, when JEA and Florida Power & Light Company crews took over her Fort Carolina neighborhood.

At a time when tensions are high, Caldwell has tried to be patient.

“They’re just doing their best, they’re trying hard. We have so much to be thankful for, it’s hard to be upset,” said Caldwell.

JEA electric troubleshooter Tony Herrera said patient customers like Caldwell have been hard to come by after JEA missed its self-proclaimed Monday at 11:59 p.m. deadline.

“Here in the last 24-48 hours, we’ve had some anxious customers that are annoyed. They were upset about the timetable not being met,” said Herrera.

He said most workers have been getting about four hours of sleep a night since Hurricane Matthew hit.

“And most people don’t even go home. They go to the service center, or they sleep in the truck and then go at it again,” said Herrera.

Herrera said his crews try to be efficient with their time.

“I have the tree crews getting ahead of the line crews, getting the limbs removed,” said Herrera.

Herrera said it’s more than just fallen trees that are causing delays.

“There was a lot more extensive damage beyond the main grid that maybe we didn’t realize,” said Herrera.

JEA has not set a new deadline for when power will be restored.

Cox Media Group