Utility officials expect electricity will be fully restored within days. In the meantime, thousands wait.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN and CHRIS TISCH
Published September 8, 2004
LARGO - The days stretch together. The nights are idle, stuffy and stale.
And with no word when air conditioners might hum again, life has been a bear for thousands of residents across mid Pinellas without power since Frances bore through Sunday afternoon.
Wherever Lisa Bradley tried to sleep, Florida's humidity followed. Her second-floor bedroom was sticky. A living room below was no better.
If electricity in her Largo condominium was not restored Tuesday, she was headed to a friend's house. Two nights had been too much, she said.
"I haven't really slept," said Bradley, who left her door open overnight Monday. "It's been so hot."
Agatha Bulanda, Bradley's neighbor at Magnolia Square condominiums on East Bay Drive, took her 7-year-old daughter Angela to the pool to cool off. About half of the neighborhood is without electricity, Bulanda said.
"If the power be on, I'd be on the computer right now," said her young daughter. "But there's no power for four days."
"No," said her mom. "It's only been two days. It just feels like four."
Nearly 100,000 Progress Energy customers remained without power Tuesday afternoon in Pinellas County. Though officials could not identify individual trouble spots, they did say some areas in Largo and Clearwater suffered particularly heavy damage.
Officials said they expect that all power will be restored in the county by midnight Thursday. In the Ridgecrest community of Largo on Tuesday, Mary Bellamy, 53, was still waiting.
She drove her motorized scooter to the foot of her door and hoped a breeze would wash in on her.
Bellamy's power went out just after midnight Sunday morning. All the food in her refrigerator is spoiled. The stuff in the freezer is starting to thaw. At night, it's hot as the devil.
"It's miserable," said Bellamy, still waiting for that breeze.
Bellamy is scared lighting candles or lanterns will start a fire. She forgot to stock up on batteries. At night, it's dangerous.
"It's straight black in here," said her son, Eric Turner.
Another worry: Bellamy can't power up the battery of her scooter, which she needs to get around. Of the 10 charging lights on her scooter, only five were lit Tuesday afternoon.
She checked them again to be sure, then shouted: "I'm down to four lights!"
Still, she knows people in other parts of the state have fared worse and she feels fortunate for what she has.
"What can you do about God's weather?" she asked. "Sometimes it teaches us a lesson that sometimes we have to go back to the oldtime ways. It should make us thankful for what we've got. I still have a roof. I still got water. Some people hit by Charley don't have a roof over their head. . . . People in Largo should be looking into the sky saying, "Thank you, God.' "
As she said that, there came that breeze she had been waiting for.
"Thank you, God," she said.
Staff writer Louis Hau contributed to this report. Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 445-4160 or asharockman@sptimes.com
