- Severe weather leaves parts of Wakulla County without power.
- Neighbors deal with frozen cars and icy conditions, some seeing snow for the first time.
- Talquin Electric reports over thousands of outages caused by fallen tree limbs.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
For a region known for sunshine and beaches, Wakulla County is now dealing with ice, cold temperatures, and power outages after severe winter weather swept through the area.
I’m Kenzie Krueger reporting from Crawfordville, where the storm has left many residents grappling with the unusual conditions.
Dolly Mitchell, a local resident, described the challenges of the freezing weather.
“I don’t know how your car was, but mine was frozen solid. It had to warm up for an hour just to get the doors open—it was cold.”
Mitchell didn’t expect the storm to bring such extreme conditions.
“We weren’t expecting cold, cold weather. We thought we’d get snow and that it would be fun, but we didn’t really get any snow—we got ice snow.”
Her power has been out since 10 p.m. Tuesday night, and she’s not alone. A power outage map from Talquin Electric shows over 3,000 members are still without power. According to Talquin, heavy ice and snow caused tree limbs to fall onto power lines, leading to widespread outages.
While the icy weather has been a challenge for some, others, like Gary Diskrud, are enjoying the rare sight.
“It’s amazing. I normally have to go on trips across the country to see all this,” Diskrud said.
For some residents, this marks the first time they’ve ever experienced snow. Mitchell pointed out how unusual the conditions are for North Florida.
“We may not be prepared for something like this,” she admitted.
As Wakulla County adapts to the unexpected storm, the community is adjusting to frozen roads, power outages, and a new appreciation for the warmth they usually enjoy.
