ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Power is mostly restored across the state after Hurricane Helene but St. Petersburg says it has no estimate for when power could be back on for hundreds of “liveaboards" who call the municipal marina home.
Some are spending money on fuel for generators and many are displaced for the foreseeable future. The city and Duke Energy both say the ball is in the other's court.
Lisa Haley lost her job when Helene destroyed the restaurant where she serves at Pass-a-Grille.
“We literally have $40 left,” she says. “That's it. $40 to our name and then I don't know what we're going to do.”
To care for her four dogs, she and her husband, Edward, are paying thirty dollars a day for fuel for this generator. Edward is a retired police officer and is on disability.
“So once my money comes in and I pay the bills right out of it, [it’s] gone,” he says.
For more than a week, it's been a struggle to restore power to the municipal marina. Most of the docks still don't have it and it’s needed to pump out wastewater.
“It's just it's very frustrating because they won't tell us what's going on,” he says. “So we don't know exactly how long it's going to be before we get power.”
The city says Duke needs to de-energize a transformer so electricians can inspect and replace breakers.
“Electricians have been at the marina every day since Tuesday methodically going through the entire electric system to ensure safe restoration of the power,” city spokesperson Alizza Punzalan-Randle said. “We do not have an estimate of when all power will be restored but are working with Duke Energy to make that happen as quickly as possible.”
Duke believes the city won’t have electricians until next week — and will shut off the transformer after “inspection and repairs that need to take place,” according to Duke spokesperson Audrey Stasko.
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“We understand how hard and frustrating it is to be without power,” she adds in an email. “We thank these customers for their understanding as we work together to rebuild areas that have been devastated by Helene.”
Nancy Ballard lives on the south dock and has been told they need Duke out here so the crews that have been here can continue working.
“It's pretty hard out here,” she says. “It's very hard without electricity. And so the sooner that we know Duke's coming, the easier everybody feels but we haven't seen a Duke truck out here. I think that's kind of the issue with everyone is they're getting anxious.”
Despite their plight, the Haleys have perspective.
“We know there's people that have it worse than we do,” Edward says. “Just keep your head up and you know, go day by day and tomorrow's another day and hopefully it'll get better.”