The milkman did it
To be more precise, the Velda Farms dairy delivery truck driver did it.
Early Monday morning the dairy driver headed down the alley, actually Mango Lane, behind the Island Shopping Center at Gulf and Marina drives to make deliveries.
His tall truck encountered a low-slung power line, which snapped the power pole and sent two transformers and power lines to three poles crashing into the alley.
The driver wasn't injured, but the shopping center and the surrounding area, some 57 commercial customers, according to Florida Power and Light, were without service for the day - some into the wee hours of Tuesday.
Even Tuesday morning, some businesses in the center were without power as crews from the contract service provider for FPL replaced a transformer for the third time and shut down power to business in the center from approximately 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
All the meters in the building that includes Sun N Surf, the Artists Guild Gallery, Jim Mixon Insurance, Ooh La La! Bistro, D.Coy Ducks, SunCoast Real Estate, Fat Cat Carpet Cleaning and Auntie M's Laundromat were "fried."
The meters and breakers were rewired and completed around 11:30 p.m. by Rayco Electric workers, but Pike Electric, FPL's provider, determined at 12:30 a.m. that the transformer had "too much juice" and had to be replaced.
It was replaced yet again Tuesday afternoon - and some stores were again without power.
If you're reading this, it's probably because folks at The Islander worked at home as much as possible and sweated out the power outages - literally. |
