ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Nineteen days and counting without power for some living at a mobile home park in Pinellas County. Hurricane Milton knocked over power poles and it is taking weeks to repair.
After 10 Tampa Bay started making calls on Monday, the power was restored for a few but others are still waiting at the Silver Lake Mobile Home Park in Lealman.
Duke Energy says because the power poles that fell here are owned by the park, Duke couldn't turn the power back on until private electricians came out. While electricians made those repairs Monday, about twenty trailers are still powerless.
Cat Myers wants power again and accountability.
“Answer the damn phones, answer the damn emails,” she says. “I want answers as to why it took so long.”
She says when residents ask park owners, Lakeshore Management, they never hear back. Her dad lost his home during Hurricane Helene and moved in with her only to get hit by Milton.
“The one thing that they did send out on time are rent bills,” she says. “We spent the sixth-year anniversary of my mom's death in the dark, and then the next day I spent my 49th birthday in the dark.”
Electricians completed repairs today after residents started talking directly with them and Duke Energy, which had a crew out Monday night restoring power for some but they've been told it could be days before everyone has power restored.
Marissa Hancock got power back after we spoke this afternoon. She says she’s spent $800 for gas for a generator to keep her mother's insulin cold; she’s now using a neighbor's fridge to store her mom's medicine.
“We got rent coming due on the first and not even sure how we're going to pay that,” she says. “We're stuck here like watching people around us have power and we're like, ‘What about us? Did you forget us?’”
We called and emailed park ownership asking why it took so long for them to get these repairs done but haven't heard back.