Dozens of JEA crews worked to restore power and clean up debris Friday after Hurricane Hermine hit Florida, knocking down trees and power lines in counties across Northeast Florida.
As the storm blew through early Friday, more than 13,000 customers were without power.
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"We worked through the night to restore power. We are constantly restoring power no matter the weather. But remember, if the winds get more than 30 mph, the buckets come in and we wait until it's safe again to work," said JEA spokesperson Gerri Boyce.
The line crews took many precautions to make sure they were safe on the job. But Boyce said homeowners have that responsibility as well, especially if they have a generator.
"If you don't hook it up correctly, you can do what we call 'backfeed' into our line and our linemen would think it's dead. And if your generator is backfeeding, you can hurt or kill our linemen who are working on those lines," Boyce said. "Read the directions. Make sure you've operated your generator before the storm hits and before you actually need it. Make sure you use it in a ventilated area. You don't want to use it in the garage or house."
In Orange Park, several trees came down, affecting power lines. One tree that was more than 200 years old cracked and fell down during the severe weather. As a result, the power got knocked out in the area and that's when JEA stepped in to fix the problem.
Some neighbors were in good spirits even after nearby trees knocked out the electricity.
"If anybody wants free wood, they can help us," said landlord Julie Hellmuth.
Other Orange Park residents said they were stunned to find burn marks on the ground left by a live downed power line.
"I was sitting on this porch and I saw all this smoke and thought, 'Something ain't right,'" said neighbor Chuck.
Luckily, he was able to contact JEA and the fire department before the situation got worse.
JEA wasn't the only busy utility company Friday. Clay Electric Cooperative responded to power outages caused by trees and tree limbs falling on power lines.
Eight construction crews from a Mississippi electric co-op arrived in Gainesville Friday to help Clay Electric with restoration efforts.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, the cooperative had approximately 16,000 accounts still out of power. About 7:30 a.m., that number had been about 43,000 accounts -- out due to Hurricane Hermine’s gusty winds, which peaked at around 55 to 60 mph across portions of the co-op’s service area.