Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Times StaffAlthough Hurricane Charley is expected to make landfall further south than originally projected, Tampa Bay area electric utilities are still expecting widespread and possibly protracted power outages.
Sample headline
Progress Energy Inc. of St. Petersburg said it has shut off power to evacuated Pinellas County beach towns from St. Pete Beach to Clearwater Beach. The utility also shut off a second power plant in the county as a precautionary measure. But because of the shift in the projected path of Charley, Progress is mulling bringing both that plant and another shut off Thursday back on line later Friday.
Meanwhile, Tampa Electric Co. turned off power Friday to a few buildings in downtown Tampa, including the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the Ashley Street Plaza and the Ashley Drive building that houses the Tampa bureau of the St. Petersburg Times. The company said those buildings contained electric installations that could be threatened by high water.