JEA monitoring Hurricane Milton, says customers should prepare for possible power and water outages

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JEA said Sunday it is monitoring Hurricane Milton and urged customers to prepare for possible power and water outages later this week.

The National Hurricane Center upgraded Milton to a Category 2 on Monday morning with winds clocking in at 100 mph.

Milton is forecast to bring rain, damaging winds, and hazardous weather to Northeast Florida on Wednesday.

RELATED | Gov. DeSantis urges Floridians to prepare for ‘a lot of power outages’ as Milton forecast to become major hurricane

On Saturday, DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 35 counties ahead of the storm. However, on Sunday morning, DeSantis increased the number of counties under the state of emergency to 51.

The counties under a state of emergency are: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie Sumter, Suwanee, Taylor, Union, and Volusia counties.

JEA Public Information Officer Karen McAllister encouraged customers to visit jea.com/storm to ensure their contact information is up to date and to register for power restoration alerts.

Customers are urged to be prepared for the upcoming storm by:

• Ensuring supply kits are stocked
• Bringing loose outdoor items indoors
• Ensuring trees are trimmed near your home or business
• Charging cell phones and mobile chargers
• Reviewing family or business emergency plans

Outages and safety

Once the storm passes and weather reports indicate it is safe, JEA immediately enters the restoration phase of our emergency operations. The utility asks for patience as crews assess the outages caused by the storm. JEA crews will work as quickly and safely as possible to restore services.

There are three ways to report an outage:

1. Visit jea.com/outage to view JEA’s Electric Outage Map and report an electric or water outage. 
2. Call (904) 665-6000 to use our automated system. 
3. Text OUT to 69532 (MyJEA). 

Disconnections on pause

JEA is continuing its suspension of customer disconnections for non-payment as the utility mobilizes to support the community.