JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Residents of Empire Point in Jacksonville's St. Nicholas neighborhood woke up to electricity on Tuesday, for the first time since Hurricane Matthew.
The area was particularly hard hit with tree damage, and some residents are still trying clean up the results of Matthew's wrath.
Marry Coppedge, a long-time resident of Empire Point, pointed out a huge oak limb that was hanging precariously over her house, having been caught by another oak tree.
"That's the one they're going to have to get the crane to get out of here. It's pretty dangerous back there," Coppedge said.
In her neighborhood on Tuesday, debris was piled high, lining the street in front of almost every house.
"I think a little tornado hit the other side. The power lines are all down. And the trees were all down. The house next to my son's had three trees down -- big, big, big trees. One of them smashed his house," Coppedge said.
Just down the street, another long-time resident of Empire Point, Bill Parker, said that he had expected this type of damage from Matthew.
"We're an older neighborhood. We have a lot of established trees and all overhead power lines so we're always going to get hit," Parker said.
Despite power lines still littering nearby roadways and yards, electricity was finally restored to the neighborhood on Tuesday morning.
"We all woke up at 6 o'clock this morning with power," Parker said.
Coppedge said she was amazed that it came on so quickly.
With trees still across driveways and in need of being removed, it has been a 24-hour, around-the-clock effort in St. Nicholas fueled by crews from all across the United States.
Just up the road, in the Holly Oaks neighborhood, a crew from Oklahoma worked to replace transformers, bringing hope and electricity to more storm-weary families.
Overall, Coopedge said, they faired better than when she rode out Hurricane Dora in 1964 in the same home, mainly because back then they didn't have a generator and had two babies in diapers.
"We had plenty of children and grandchildren stay with us, so it all went well. We are all well," she said.
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday night, JEA crews were still working to restore power to 35,000 customers around the city.