NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Hundreds of residents are still without power due to a variety of reasons after Hurricane Irma hit South Florida.
For Derick Bennaud, a Northeast Miami-Dade resident, the cause behind his lack of power is a bit more complex than others.
Hurricane Irma’s powerful winds managed to knock down a tree which destroyed Bennaud’s power lines and destroying a box that connected to his home.
“And the pole was snapped in half,” said Bennaud.
Attempts to restore power to Bennaud’s home on Northeast 108th Street has been a long process. FPL workers have already visited his home more than once.
“They told us we need to hire an electrician first to repair the box,” he said.
The family got that done, and they said FPL crews returned, but crews were unable to restore power at the time because they didn’t have the correct replacement line.
Now Bennaud and his family are waiting and hoping that Wednesday will be the day that FPL will be able to restore the power.
“The only thing we care about is having a little A/C and lights, but that’s about it,” said Bennaud. “We don’t really care about anything else because right now, we can survive without TV and everything. All we need is just a little bit of power and that’s about it.”
A resident next door has been suffering from a different power problem. Yamila San Martin said her home had about four feet of water inside of it when her street was flooded by Irma.
“If anybody got water above their outlets, they cannot turn on their power, because, basically, all that salt water has penetrated and everything is getting corroded,” said San Martin.
It could be months before FPL can turn the lights back on at her home.
Next door, Bennaud has been sitting in his front yard for most of the day in hopes that FPL will arrive with the final fix for his home.
As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, all Broward residents have regained power, and 20 residents in Miami-Dade are still without power.
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