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DONG-PHUONG NGUYENResidents are warned to be careful traveling flooded streets as power outages and cabin fever drive people out of their homes.
TAMPA - If Sunday was a day for fear, Monday was a day for annoyance.
In the hours after Frances slogged through the area, people were left to deal with life without electricity, with soggy carpets and with erratic drivers, all while struggling to return to normal.
Across Hillsborough County, people cleared their yards, littered with palm fronds and tree branches, and packed into the few restaurants that were open. Kids celebrated news that today will bring yet another holiday from school.
Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said damage so far did not appear catastrophic.
"At this point in time, I am very pleased that it is not worse than it is," Bean said at a news conference.
Monday afternoon, 17 crews began canvassing the county to assess the damage, which included reports of several trees that fell on homes.
For many, the worst annoyance was the loss of electricity to what Tampa Electric Co. officials called an "unprecedented" number of customers.
"We've never seen numbers like this before," said spokesman Ross Bannister.
As of late Monday afternoon, about 160,000 homes were still without power, Bannister said.
Outages shut down sewer lift stations. While the county scrambled to provide generators, Bean urged residents to ration their flushing.
She also warned drivers to use caution at intersections, where darkened traffic lights created chaotic driving conditions.
"Do the things you need to do to get back to normal," Bean said. "But please be careful."
A woman talking on a cell phone drove a Dodge Intrepid through a malfunctioning traffic light across Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and collided with a Hillsborough County fire engine, Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman Rod Reder reported.
She was severely injured and taken to a local hospital. Two firefighters were treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
No other weather-related injuries were reported.
The city also appeared to have escaped wind damage to buildings and major destruction to homes and offices.
"Really, we felt the city fared fairly well," Mayor Pam Iorio said at a news conference.
Police closed an emergency lane on the side of Interstate 275 near Rome Avenue, where the side of the road gave out, creating a mudslide, Tampa police Chief Steve Hogue said. Part of the road also washed out on I-275 near Hillsborough Avenue, but the road was still safe to drive and no lanes closed.
Most city and county services will resume operations today, officials said.
Hillsborough County teachers and school staff are expected to report to work to prepare to welcome students back on Wednesday, said Hillsborough County spokesman Mark Hart.
Janitorial staff will clean up litter left by evacuees, teachers will assess damage to schools and bus drivers will drive their routes to make sure roads are passable. Some schools were also without power, Hart said.
Students everywhere cheered.
"I'm excited," said Laura Gonzales, 15, a Wharton High School sophomore. "I'm going to hang out with my friends."
University of South Florida students also get the day off.
By Monday afternoon, there were hints all over the county that life was returning to normal.
On Davis Islands, as the rains stopped and the floodwaters receded, people worked on their yards, clearing debris.
In the downtown business district, Estela's Mexican restaurant did a booming business.
Lisa Manfredy, 38, and her husband Guillermo, 33, said they walked about a mile through knee-high floodwater to get to the restaurant after learning it was open on the TV news.
"We were getting cabin fever," Lisa Manfredy said, as she sipped on a margarita. "We wanted to check on the island family."
Several area McDonald's restaurants opened for business, drawing 30-car lines in their drive-through lanes. On Kennedy Boulevard near downtown Tampa, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Robert Foster of Davis Islands waited in a line that stretched around the building and onto Kennedy.
Foster, his wife and two children were without power at home.
"I wanted (the kids) to see what a hurricane can do," Foster said.
Toward the back of the line, Barry Roberts of Temple Terrace thumped his fingers on the steering wheel while waiting in his sport utility vehicle. Roberts, who lost power Sunday morning, was on his way to check on friends in South Tampa.
"I just couldn't eat any more chips or crackers," he said.
Inside, employee Kaytrina James of Temple Terrace, who had braved the elements to arrive at 3:30 a.m., said the restaurant had been full since its 6 a.m. opening.
"I've never seen it like this," James said. "But we're keeping up."
Times staff writers Keith Niebuhr, Paul de la Garza, Janet Zink and David Karp contributed to this report.