LOCAL

Polk's widespread power outages and flooding persist, but damage and injuries are mild

Hurricane Ian toppled this tree onto a house at Avenue C and 17th Street Northeast in Winter Haven.

Widespread power outages continue to plague Polk County after Hurricane Ian. The storm's high winds have wreaked havoc on power lines, but at first glance it appears few buildings sustained major damage.

Ian's fastest windspeed in Polk County clocked in at 78 mph in Lakeland, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. Preliminary reports show Ian crossed Polk as a Category 1 hurricane, though some areas further from the eye saw maximum windspeed of 40 mph.

Rainfall amounts varied widely across the county. There were nearly 17 inches reported in Lake Wales, follow by about 10.7 inches in Frostproof with smaller amounts in the southern portion of Polk. By contrast, Auburndale received about 2.4 inches throughout the storm based on preliminary reports. These amounts may rise, as NOAA staff said power outages might have impacted recorded windspeed and rainfalls. They are double checking before issuing a final storm report.

A large oak, topped by Hurricane Ian, blocks Avenue Q Southeast in Winter Haven on Friday. The city said most of its roads were open to traffic Friday, but only four or five still had impediments.

Flooding and wind damage:For areas along the Peace River and South Polk, Hurricane Ian 'was a little worse than Irma'

Death toll:Florida officials say at least 21 deaths could be tied to Hurricane Ian

Path of destruction:Maps and charts show extent of Hurricane Ian's rampage

"The forecast for Florida is exactly what happened," said Paul Womble, Polk County's director of emergency management. "Look what happened in Manatee County. We didn't have the storm surges, but our neighbors to the south have flooding and significant road damage. We were right on the bubble of truly catastrophic destruction." 

As of mid-day Friday, approximately 137,000 Polk County residents remained without power, Womble said. These outages affect more than 30% of the county, according to PowerOutage.us, an online aggregator of national power outages.

Lakeland Electric reported 24,722 customers without power as of noon Friday, about one-third of its initial 63,000 outages. LE spokeswoman Cathryn Lacy said the outage numbers would likely continue to fluctuate as weakened tree limbs and debris fell, impacting power lines.

A car is obscured by a tree that collapsed around it during Hurricane Ian at Avenue C and 17th Street Northeast in Winter Haven on Friday.

The municipal-owned utility saw an increase in mutual-aid crews coming to help — from 100 to about 200 personnel by Friday. The crews came from Texas, Tennessee and Louisiana. About 9 a.m. Friday, the utility estimated a full power restoration would take three to four days. 

"We understand it's uncomfortable, we understand the urgency and we are moving as quickly as we possibly can," City Manager Shawn Sherrouse said. 

Lakeland Electric customers are encouraged to report downed poles, downed wires and any tree limbs on wires by calling 863-834-9535. 

Crews work to replace a damaged power pole Friday afternoon on Highland Street in Lakeland. A resident said five powers along the road were broken during Hurricane Ian. A crew from the Grand River Dam Authority in Oklahoma joined the effort to get power restored.

Tampa Electric and Duke Energy serve some areas of Polk but didn't say how many outages it was experiencing in the county.

Duke reported 430,000 customers without power statewide early Friday but did not have an estimated restoration time for Polk customers by Friday afternoon. 

TECO had nearly 169,000 customers out as of 1p.m. Friday. The company said in a press statement that it hopes to have power restored to the vast majority of customers by Sunday night. 

"Some portions of Polk County and eastern Hillsborough County, which had more damage, should be restored by Monday night," read the utility's statement. "Some customers with more complex damage may take longer to restore."

Lakeland Regional Health did not report a significant number of storm-related injuries. Kendra Kramer, LRH's spokesperson, said the medical center's Emergency Department treated a number of minor injuries during the storm — bumps, bruises, slips and falls, possibly not storm-related — plus one person treated for an injury related to a portable generator. 

State officials said there might be a storm-related death in Polk County, but no local agency was able to confirm the death for The Ledger on Friday.

What's the damage? 

Friday was the first full day many governmental agencies were able to get crews out for a full day assessing the storm's damage.

The boat ramp at Lake Shipp Park is nearly under water a day after Hurricane Ian.

Haines City was among the hardest struck areas of Polk, according to Womble, along with Davenport. Duke Energy assessed that 87% of Haines City was without power immediately following the storm, Mayor Ann Huffman said.

"Overall we are thankful and blessed to have some power compared with Fort Myers and Cape Coral," Huffman said.

There are 23 single-family homes and three apartment buildings in Haines City with minor damage, according to a report by Deputy City Manager Loyd Stewart, such as non-structural roof damage or siding damage. The city found 88 single-family homes and two apartment buildings were "affected" by the storm, which the Federal Emergency Management  Agency defines as having sustained cosmetic damage, damaged out building or landscape damage like a large downed tree.

The baseball fields behind Advent Fieldhouse in Winter Haven were flooded a day after Hurricane Ian grazed the southern edge of Polk County.

Haines City's reported damages will likely increase as the city's assessment was approximately 60% complete as of Thursday, according to Stewart, and would continue through Friday evening.

The city had pre-ordered a truck of ice that was expected to be distributed to Haines City residents who remained without power Friday.

Huffman said she hoped the county would act swiftly to order food, water and ice to be distributed, noting there was a delay after Hurricane Irma. Many area residents were seeking tarps and hands-on help to cover damaged tin roofs, Hufffman said.

Lakeland's damage assessment team visited 4,500 properties and deemed fewer than 20 to have major or significant damage, Sherrouse said. He did not have a breakdown of how many of the damaged properties were residential or commercial.

Tree at Lake Shipp Park in Winter Haven  was toppled by Hurricane Ian.

None of the city's municipal-owned buildings sustained significant damage, Sherrouse said. Some locations remained without power as of midday Friday. All of Lakeland's facilities and services will remain closed through the weekend to focus on its cleanup and restoration efforts.

"We didn't lose a lot of entire trees, but we do have a lot of debris," he said. "It will be a significant effort to get the debris cleaned up and hauled off to appropriate locations to be deposited."

Airport Director Kris Hallstrand said Amazon resumed its flights at Lakeland Linder International Airport on Friday. The airport did sustain some damage to one of its buildings, but assessment was still underway.

Winter Haven had most of its roadways open for travel Friday but was waiting for floodwaters to recede at several of its lakes, according to city spokeswoman Katrina Hill. Portions of Lake Howard Drive remained closed early Friday to ensure structural integrity of underground utilities. Hill said there were about five streets that remained closed because of downed trees and power lines, but residents should be able to easily navigate a route around on parallel streets.

Ian knocked out power to several city-operated traffic lights, Hill said. Many were back up and running on portable generators until electricity could be restored.

The city had five water main breaks during Hurricane Ian, according to Hill, primarily caused by wind knocking down large trees whose roots lifted and broke pipelines. City crews were in the process of finishing repairs to the water system Friday morning.

Winter Haven Regional Airport has some "significant' damage to its hangars, Hill said. She did not have exact details midday Friday, as assessment was still underway. Other municipal structures affected include Lake Shipp Park and the stage covering at MLK Jr. Park.

Lakeland Electric crews cut away a tree Friday afternoon that had fallen onto power lines during Hurricane Ian. The street was blocked in both directions near Ariana Village as the work progressed.

Sewage spills 

Widespread power outages after Ian are creating a series of ongoing sewer issues for municipalities that face challenges managing wastewater.

Forte Meade reported about 800,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater spilled into the Peace River above Bowlegs Creek because of an overflow into its wastewater plant caused by flooding, according to a report made to Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Cleanup was noted as underway Friday.

Lakeland reported about a half dozen sewage spills to FDEP, according to Sherrouse, many after Ian knocked out power to various city pump stations. Among the spills were 5,000 gallons into a drainage ditch that flows into the Itchepackesassa Creek and 2,000 gallons of raw sewage into a stormwater system that flows into Anglers Lake. 

Davenport, Frostproof, Lake Wales and Winter Haven also reported sewer overflows or spills related to Hurricane Ian to FDEP, but did not mention any contamination or impact to local water bodies. 

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.