Nearly all electrical power knocked out in Hernando County by Frances last weekend was expected to be restored by this morning.
That was Saturday's good news.
The bad news: The power could be in danger again in a matter of days.
Even as they enjoyed their lights and air conditioning again, Hernando residents spent much of Saturday preparing for and worrying over a possible visit by Hurricane Ivan.
Progress Energy reported that all customers able to receive power had it restored by late Friday night. Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative reported only 525 customers still without power at noon Saturday, down from 3,350 Friday evening.
"And that number keeps dropping at a significant rate," spokesman Ernie Holzhauer said. "Everyone here is working 14 to 16 hour days to fix these problems."
Customers still without power Saturday afternoon were scattered throughout the county, with no concentration in any particular area, Holzhauer said. Most were expected to be reconnected by this morning.
Progress was also being made Saturday on restoration of BellSouth phone service, spokeswoman Marta Casas-Celaya said. As of noon Saturday, the company reported 52,800 outages in its 11-county Central Florida area. A specific number for Hernando was not available. About 209,000 phone outages were reported to BellSouth following the storm.
Meanwhile, with little additional rain Friday and early Saturday, flooding along the Withlacoochee River was not anticipated to worsen significantly.
The National Weather Service reported moderate flooding Saturday on the river at Trilby.
The river stood at 141/2 feet Saturday morning, 21/2 feet above flood stage. The river is expected to crest this afternoon at 15 feet.
At Croom, there was minor flooding. The river stood at 9.9 feet Saturday morning, about a foot over flood stage. The river is expected to crest Monday afternoon at 10.3 feet, 1.3 feet above flood stage.
Tom Leto, Hernando County emergency management director, said recovery work throughout the county was going better than expected. He said he hoped the progress would calm jittery residents as Ivan begins making its approach toward the Gulf of Mexico.
But, throughout the day Saturday, there were signs of anxiety.
Gas stations that had fuel were clogged, with lines stretching down streets in some cases. Northbound traffic along Interstate 75 doubled that of southbound traffic - even as early as daybreak. Several travelers said they hoped to get out of the state before evacuations were called for and the interstate comes to a standstill.
Leto said Hernando officials will decide today at 4 p.m. whether any county residents will be asked or ordered to evacuate. He said Saturday's storm track put Hernando in a better position for the storm, but cautioned that it was still too early to tell what Ivan might do.
"People need to relax and take a deep breath," he said. "Everyone is understandably nervous, but it's too premature to begin evacuating."
Staff writer Mike Konrad contributed to this report.
