ST. CLOUD, Fla. – What started as an electrical failure inside a St. Cloud mobile home community has turned into days of spoiled food, unexpected hotel bills and sweltering homes for some of the people who live there.
Residents at the St. Cloud Mobile Home Park told News 6 on Friday that part of the community had been without electricity for a third day. Several said they have been forced to find other places to sleep, throw away groceries and spend money they did not plan to spend.
Hector Willems, who has lived in the community for about five years, said the timing of the outage made the financial hit even harder.
“This is the third day,” Willems said. “Everybody already bought their groceries, and all their groceries are ruined.”
Willems said he relies on a CPAP machine while he sleeps, meaning a home without electricity is not an option for him. He said he has been paying for a hotel and estimates that lodging and eating out are costing him at least $150 a day.
“It’s a financial burden for sure,” he said.
Residents show News 6 the impact
A few doors down, Alfredo Sanchez showed News 6 an almost-empty refrigerator after he said he was forced to throw away his groceries.
Sanchez said he had recently spent $259 on groceries and showed News 6 a receipt for part of that purchase. He said the food spoiled after the electricity went out.
Sanchez also said medication he normally keeps refrigerated became too warm to use.
“I lost my insulin ’cause it got too hot. I lost all my grocery food,” Sanchez said.
With his home too hot to comfortably sleep in, Sanchez said he has been sleeping in his car. He said a hotel is financially out of reach.
“I don’t have the money to stay in a hotel,” he said.
OUC: Failed line belongs to customer
The Orlando Utilities Commission told News 6 it became aware of the outage on Aug. 5.
According to OUC, the problem was caused by “a failure on a customer-owned line within the community.”
OUC said the St. Cloud fire chief and local building officials directed the utility to disconnect power to a portion of the park because of safety concerns.
The utility said electricity cannot be restored until repairs are made by the property.
“Service will be restored as soon as the property’s management makes the repairs needed to ensure safety,” OUC said in its statement to News 6.
That distinction is important: OUC says the failed line is not part of its own system and that the property’s management must complete the necessary repairs before the utility can safely turn the electricity back on.
Resident says cable came down near his home
Tony Caban told News 6 a cable came down near his home and that a small portion of his roof caught fire.
Caban said he had previously raised concerns with the property office about the cable months before this week’s outage. News 6 has not independently verified those previous complaints.
He showed News 6 damage near the back of his home and pointed to wires and tree limbs he believes have been an ongoing concern.
Repair requires specially ordered cable
News 6 also reviewed an email sent to one of the residents Thursday explaining why repairs could take additional time.
The message said:
“The specific cable required for this job must be specially ordered. We are making every attempt to get the cable by tomorrow and make this repair.”
But by Friday, residents told News 6 they were still without power.
Sanchez said management had told him repairs could take another three to four days.
News 6 also went to the property’s management office during its posted operating hours seeking additional answers, but no one answered the door.
‘People are just disgusted’
Without a firm restoration time, residents said frustration is growing.
Some have left to stay with relatives. Others are paying for hotels. Sanchez said he is sleeping in his car. Willems said people throughout the community are trying to determine what they can afford to do next.
“People are just disgusted,” Willems said. “People are … trying to figure out what they can do.”
Willems said residents ultimately want two things: the current problem fixed and steps taken to keep it from happening again.
“Get this thing fixed,” he said, “and try and take measures that it doesn’t happen again.”
OUC says it will restore service once property management completes the repairs required to make the system safe.