JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JEA trimmed trees ahead of hurricane season to reduce the risk of branches falling on powerlines and causing power outages.
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The utility said it’s something they’ve been doing all year long, including changing out wooden poles for concrete ones to prepare for high winds.
A few months ago, an Avondale resident had a tree removed that was taller than the house itself.
“[I can breathe] a really huge sigh of relief because it was positioned to where it would fall on me or my house or one of my neighbors or a car or whatever,” Elizabeth Milton said.
She said it would’ve been a tragedy if that happened.
While Milton’s tree was removed, JEA cleared out branches from around powerlines on the Westside.
“So many outages are caused by branches falling on our lines,” JEA spokesperson Karen McAllister said.
She said in addition to JEA trimming trees, they want property owners to trim trees safely that JEA can’t legally cut.
Just a few weeks ago, Northeast Florida experienced some strong winds.
Trees were uprooted and fell on powerlines, leading to about 70,000 people being without power in multiple counties.
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While those storms did damage, more could be on the way as hurricane season begins in a few days.
NOAA National Weather Service forecasters predict there will be an above-normal hurricane activity this year.
Even though hurricanes can be unpredictable, JEA said it has taken steps to be prepared.
“We work to upgrade our technology and electric and water services throughout the year to ensure we’re prepared...so some of those upgrades include replacing wooden poles with concrete, adding new generators and pumps to our facilities, and hardening our electric service to our most critical pump stations,” McAllister said.
She didn’t specify what areas those upgrades were put in, but she said they will make a difference.