Cox Restores Service To Over 80% Of Customers; Spectrum Continues To Work On Restoration
September 22, 2020
Cox Communications has restored service to at least 83% of their customers, while Spectrum said they are continuing to repair outages.
Cox Communications
Cox Communications said that they are making significant progress in restoring its network and services.
Following Hurricane Sally making landfall, 93% of Cox customers along the Gulf Coast were offline. As of Monday, that number has been reduced to 17%.
“Our team continues to work tirelessly to get the Gulf Coast reconnected,” said Anthony Pope, senior vice president and region manager of Cox Southeast. “Once power came back on in the community, we’ve been able to reconnect a large majority of our customers to the services they enjoy. We still have work ahead, particularly in the hardest hit areas, and we will not rest until the network has been restored.”
Cox brought in technicians from around the region to assist with this process.
“I’m very proud of the work our team has done to reconnect so many of our Gulf Coast neighbors.” said David Deliman, market vice president of Cox Gulf Coast. “As businesses reopen and school is looking to restart, we are committed to completing repairs to the network this week.”
Spectrum Communications
An unknown number of Spectrum customers remain without internet and cable following Hurricane Sally last week.
NorthEscambia.com reached out to Spectrum. We were told Monday afternoon by Spectrum Senior Director of Regional Communications South Patti Michel that the cable company should be able to provide a restoration update in terms of a percentage to us on Tuesday.
“The vast majority of outages following Hurricane Sally are caused by downed trees and resulting loss of power. Spectrum services are often restored with, or immediately following, restoration of power at the customer’s location. However, in some cases, Spectrum services may still be affected even after power returns to a home or business,” Spectrum Senior Director of Regional Communications South Patti Michel said in an email.
“Outages caused by damage to Spectrum’s network or lines will be restored as quickly and as safely as possible by our technicians as soon as they can safely access these sites. We appreciate customer’s patience as we work to restore services,” her email continued.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge
Price Gouging Hotline Is Active After Hurricane Sally
September 22, 2020
Florida’s Attorney General has activated her price gouging hotline.
In the aftermath of the destruction and flooding left by Hurricane Sally, Attorney General Ashley Moody is warning those in impacted areas to guard against price gouging, contracting scams and fraud. Attorney General Moody’s Price Gouging Hotline remains open and accessible for consumers to report extreme price increases and storm-related scams.
After a natural disaster, consumers should be wary of tree service scams, building and home repair scams, disaster relief scams and water testing and treatment scams, Moody said.
“Hurricane Sally brought destruction to property and the lives of thousands of Floridians. Sadly, these events often bring with them a wave of fraud and other types of crime, Moody said. Anyone who steals from Floridians in this time of crisis will be caught and prosecuted. My office and local law enforcement will work tirelessly to protect Floridians, but citizens can help by taking steps to protect themselves.”
Man Shot At Century Convenience Store Monday Night
September 21, 2020
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting Monday night at a Century convenience store that sent one man to the hospital.
About 7:38 p.m. the law enforcement responded to a report of a man chasing another man with a gun at the Century Pit Stop on North Century Boulevard, according Amber Southard, public information officer for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
“A short time later, a gunshot victim showed up at Atmore (Community) Hospital suffering from a non-life threatening wound,” she said, adding he was shot during the Century incident.
Witnesses told NorthEscambia.com that there were customers in the parking lot at the time of the shooting.
No one was taken into custody following the incident and no description of the suspect was available.
Anyone with information is asked to call the ECSO at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
EREC Power Restoration Is Complete
September 21, 2020
Escambia River Electric Cooperative announced that as of about 5:45 p.m., every member that is is able to receive electricity has had their power restored.
EREC reported 95% of their members, 11,463 total customers, without power after Hurricane Sally across northern Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
“We thank our membership for their patience and tremendous show of support as our line crews worked to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. We thank our fellow cooperatives who sent their line crews to assist us in our time of need to rebuild our battered system. We are proud to be a part of the cooperative family,” EREC said.
Escambia County Curfew Lifted, Except For Perdido Key
September 21, 2020
The curfew for Escambia County has expired, with the exception of Perdido Key.
The curfew is in effect from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. through Thursday morning for the Perdido Key barrier island, which is south and west of the Theo Baars bridge.
According to Escambia County, tviolation of an emergency order is a second degree misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and $500 fine.
Over 90% Of Escambia County Traffic Signals Are Now Working
September 21, 2020
Crews have accessed 264 traffic signals maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation and Escambia County. Of those, 244 are functioning, 14 are flashing and six are non-operational. Remember, tree a non-working traffic signal as a four-way stop. Crews are hoping to restore all of the signals on Monday. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
ECUA Trash Collection Back To Normal Schedule
September 21, 2020
Emerald Coast Utilities Authority trash pick up is back to a normal schedule this week.
Sanitation Collection
ECUA garbage collection is back to a normal weekly schedule. There will be no recycling or yard waste collection at this time. Escambia County will begin to pick up hurricane debris on Wednesday.
Boil Water Notice
ECUA has canceled a system wide boil water notice and replaced it with a boil water notice for one subdivision in Cantonment and an area within East Hill. Click here for details.
Phone Lines
ECUA’s phones are now back in service, but they are experiencing a high call volume. Customers can click or tap here to see how many calls are currently holding in order to choose the best time to call. ECUA’s customer service number is (850) 476-0480, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The emergency after hours number is (850) 476-5110.
List: Feeding Sites For Free Hot Lunch And Dinner Daily
September 21, 2020
The Salvation Army and Red Cross have established several fixed feeding sites that will operate daily until further notice.
Salvation Army
All Salvation Army sites will serve lunch at noon and dinner at 4:30 p.m. daily.
- Century Industrial Park at 6801 Industrial Boulevard
- AMC Theater at 161 East Nine Mile Road
- Equestrian Center at 7750 Mobile Hwy in Beulah
- Brent Ball park at the corner of Beverly Pkwy & W Street
- Olive Baptist in Warrington at 103 Winthrop Avenue
- Point Church at 13801 Innerarity Point Road
- Park near The Salvation Army Corps
- Pensacola Village Apartments 500 E Fairfield Drive
Red Cross Feeding
- Olive Baptist Church, 1836 East Olive Road. Begin serving noon/ Dinner at 5:00 p.m.
Oak Grove Citizens Convenience Center Is Open For Debris And Waste Disposal
September 21, 2020
The Oak Grove Convenience Center is open for debris and waste disposal, according to District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry.
It will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. this week. The facility at 745 North Highway 99, about a mile north of Highway 97, would normally be closed except for Friday and Saturdays.
File photo.
‘Almost Complete Devastation’ – Florida Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried Hears From Local Farmers Impacted By Sally
September 21, 2020
Almost complete devastation – that’s how Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried described the damage to crops across northern Escambia County.
Sunday, Fried met with farmers in Walnut Hill and Jay about the effects of the Category 2 hurricane that left behind about 15 inches of rain across the area.
“The individual farmers we spoke to today are mostly cotton and peanut farmers,” Fried told NorthEscambia.com in a one-on-one interview at the Walnut Hill Community Center. “They are estimating by the time it is all said and done with the rain that is coming down this week, it’s going to be almost a 100% loss.”
“They have water that is still sitting on their land, and not only that, we still have water coming in. There is going to be almost complete devastation,” Fried said. “They don’t have the resources to get the crops off the land; it’s something they are going to be dealing with for a very long time.”
Fried got a close look at the devastation as she traveled through North Escambia farmland along Highway 97 in Walnut Hill and on through Bratt while enroute to Jay.
Pictured: Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried talked with local farmers and had a chance to see crop devastation across northern Escambia and Santa Rosa counties Sunday. NorthEscambia.com and courtesy photos, click to enlarge.
