When it comes to damage from severe weather, it’s best to head it off at the pass, if possible.
That’s what JEA does as a matter of policy when it comes to electric service that might be interrupted by trees or limbs falling on power lines.
And it’s what the utility has been doing for more than a week when it comes to sewer service issues in anticipation of Northeast Florida being in the path of Tropical Storm Hermine.
Field crews work until weather conditions become unsafe and then are back at work as soon as it is safe, said JEA spokeswoman Gerri Boyce.
She said JEA is expecting as much as 6 inches of rain and wind gusts up to 40 mph.
“In any storm, you can expect some outages,” she said.
In 2013, JEA began investing $17 million per year to “harden” the electric system to better withstand tropical storm winds and tornadoes.
A lot of what’s been done in the past week was to ensure the system was ready for the storm.
Boyce said the electric generating stations and transmission lines were inspected to make sure everything was working, including backup systems. Twenty-four line crews will be standing by to repair power lines, if needed.
The first step, Boyce said, is to assess the damage and first repair electric generating stations, transmission lines and water and sewer facilities.
After that, outages will be prioritized. Critical needs — such as hospitals, fire and police stations and critical traffic intersections — will be repaired first, Boyce said.
For commercial and residential service, areas with the greatest number of customers without power take priority.
A program to minimize outages caused by trees and other vegetation –– tropical weather notwithstanding –– began at JEA several years ago and should pay dividends during the storm, since the possibility of damage already has been reduced.
In 2012, tree limbs and vines caused 2,416 outages, even without effects from tropical weather. That number went down to 1,877 in 2015 — about a 25 percent decrease.
The large amount of rain expected in just a few hours tonight, combined with higher-than-normal tides due to the new moon, has JEA watching the water and sewer system.
Personnel will be monitoring pumping stations and gravity lines that might become overloaded.
“When we have a lot of water, it can encroach into the sewer system,” Boyce said.
If that happens, crews and equipment will be dispatched to vacuum sewage out of the affected facility, transport it and then dump it into another facility that’s not overloaded.
Boyce said with so little rain recently, there could be a greater chance that trees will fall because the soil around them has become dry. When roots come out of the ground, sewer and water lines may be pulled up and damaged.
Drainage isn’t JEA’s responsibility — storm drains are maintained by the city.
The city’s pre-storm routine involves checking major discharge points into the St. Johns River and the 10 pump stations, said spokeswoman Marsha Oliver.
Mayor Lenny Curry issued a state of emergency for the city effective 5 p.m. today.
City crews also follow up on unresolved drainage complaints about road flooding and check drainage systems in low-lying areas, such as Springfield, McCoy’s Creek and Southampton.
“Residents should be aware that roadside drainage systems may become overwhelmed if we receive a lot of rain in a short period of time, but we would expect the water to recede quickly after the rain stops,” Oliver said.
JEA doesn’t anticipate any major outages to be caused by the storm, but customers are encouraged to be prepared if they experience temporary interruption of electric or water service.
“Be sure you have drinking water and fresh batteries,” said Boyce.
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