Posted on 04/29/2002 2:27:02 PM PDT by pitinkie
BREAKING NEWS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A fire at a power plant at Talleyrand, along with two major transmission lines going down, has resulted in a major outage of electricity throughout the city. JEA spokesman Bruce Dugan told Channel 4 just before 5 p.m. that a fire at the Kennedy Generating Station occured simultaniously as two major transmission lines connecting Jacksonville to the power grid went out.
Dugan said that the whole city was out initially. He said about 15 percent of service has been restored, and most should be back up in two to three hours.
Jacksonville's Emergency Operations Center was activated, and is operating at a level two. Sharon Ashton of the mayor's office said the the fire department is battling fires at the generating plant and in three other places around town.
Police report traffic lights throughout the city are out, and police ask that people only call 911 for emergencies other than to report outages.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office just called in their midnight shift, and is holding the day shift over, so that the maximum amount of officers are on the street until all power is restored.
"If you don't be on the road, don't. If you don't need to be on your phone, don't," Ashton said.
Jacksonville International Airport is running on emergency power, and arriving flights are being allowed to land. Departing flights are not taking off, and there are backups in ticketing and securty. Passengers are asked to call their airlines 800 number before before heading to the airport.
Baptist Medical Center is running on emergency power. Channel 4 has been unable to reach the other hospitals.
Telephone service -- even some cellular service -- is affected. Channel 4 understands that power is out in Orange Park, northern St. Johns County and parts of Nassau County as well.
The mayor is expecting to make a statement about the situation at 6 p.m. Channel 4 plans to carry that live.
"When the legend becomes fact....print the legend."
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
O.K. so tell me how am I supposed to boil my water without electricity? Tell me how turning off all my appliances is is going to help when I don't have any power? I've set my thermostat warmer & colder and it has no effect, what gives?
Geesh, I can't imagine the mad house at the grocery stores tomorrow!!
Jacksonville sucks.
Yeah, yeah, nothing compares...
Of course that's catch 22 with the guitar being stolen, unless you're good on the spoons.
The tin-foil rumor flotilla crowds are already preparing to lay mines in the inlet.
They must have viewed that 1985 "Invasion U.S.A." movie with Matt Luther, real name Carlos Ray Norris, aka Chuck Norris.
As an aside, all has been well here in southern ST. John's County. All the lights are on...but in some cases it doesn't mean some of these folks are home. Then again, I survived the biggie blackout in New York and Northeast back in the 1960's. Now that was a trip!
Best FReegards...LCDR "Mustang" USN,(Ret) sends from the First Coast.
There are some outstanding upscale homes with rather fine access to St. Johns River.
My digs are in Crescent Beach on A1A between the intercoastal and the ocean. As the crow flys we're about 10 miles south from the "Bridge of Lions" connecting downtown St.Augustine and Anastasia Island.. My soon to be "new" son-in-law and I are presently shopping for some newer canvas to make our Island treks less hazardous.
Best FReegards Travis...let's stay in touch. Fair Winds and Following Seas...LCDR "Mustang" USN,(Ret)....btw....more info in my FReeper profile. Stay Well...another also, I'm a John D.MacDonald fanatic!! I'll almost wager I read'em all!
And as a regular on FreeRepublic, I can assure you that persistence and a thick skin are mandatory accessories to the process.
Delighted to hear from you, and congratulations on creating a legend.
Congressman Billybob
Click here to fight Campaign Finance "Reform/".
Click here for latest: "Liars, Criminals and Fools on Parade."
Hi!
You know, you sound kind of snarly, but there really is no reason for that. Everyone loves you! You took a little heat for that silly shower thing, but it was gentle heat -- believe me, there's a difference between getting flamed and getting kidded. You just got kidded. And now you are a legend!
You are the FR equivalent of Christina Applegate twisting on the sidewalk next to a dying River Phoenix...
At any rate, I'm glad you're still around. Keep clean!
Mark W.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.