Hurricane Electrical Preparedness in Wesley Chapel, FL
Wind, Water, and the Outage: Milton's Three Hazards|Licensed & Insured, EC13011268
Pasco's evacuation order for Hurricane Milton reached well past the coast. It applied to every manufactured home, mobile home, and RV anywhere in the county and to every low-lying or flood-prone area, and it asked anyone who would be at risk in a power loss to leave voluntarily. Those three groups match the three ways a hurricane works on a Wesley Chapel house's electrical system: wind pulls at what's mounted outside, water finds whatever sits low, and the outage can run for days.
Include the meter and your lowest outdoor outlet in your photos.
Call (352) 251-2795, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or send a request online. Calls after hours are returned the next business day.
At a glance
Milton's Rainfall and Pasco's Repair Permits
Milton left 11.40 inches of rain at Wesley Chapel. A lot that held water in a rain like that shows where its low-set equipment is most exposed, and that spot is the one to raise or protect before the next season.
Pasco treats electrical repairs after a storm as permitted work. In the county's post-storm guidance, that takes in wiring and service panels, and it covers replacing wet wiring.
How it runs
A Wesley Chapel House Through the Prep Season
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1
Look up at the mast, then down at the yard
Before calling, look up at the mast and the meter on the wall, then down at the lowest outdoor outlet and the equipment pad. Photos of each, plus a note on any standing water and on where a generator would run outside, show the estimator all three hazards.
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2
Installed work under a Pasco electrical permit
A replaced riser, a raised outlet, or an inlet and interlock adds or changes wiring, so the county requires an electrical permit for it. The permit closes only once the work passes the county's inspections.
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3
After the storm, from the roofline down
Start with what the wind reached up high. A wire lying in the yard or across the street is the power company's to handle, so stay far from it and phone them. For a mast torn from the wall or a meter base knocked loose, keep clear of both, leave the seal alone, and call our office about the house side. Indoors, a breaker that tripped can be reset one time if the storm left no damage and nothing was wet. A second trip means it stays off. At any smoke, sparks, or burning smell, get everyone outside and call 911.
What we cover
Three Hurricane Hazards and the Wiring Each One Reaches
Wind and the equipment mounted outside
Wind pulls hardest on whatever stands out from the house. A leaning mast, a loose strap, or rust along the seams of the base worsens with each storm. Replacing the mast or the meter base takes a date with the power company, so that job belongs on the calendar months ahead of a storm. Check the outdoor disconnects for the air conditioner and pool equipment too, since a cover that no longer latches lets wind-driven rain inside.
Water and anything set low
Rain that collects on low ground reaches the electrical equipment nearest to it first: outdoor receptacles close to grade, the timers and disconnects on a pool equipment pad, landscape-lighting transformers, and a garage panel or junction box where water can run in under the door. An in-use cover keeps rain off a plugged-in cord, but no cover is made for standing water. If an outdoor outlet sits a few inches above the soil on a lot that takes water, moving it higher on the wall is an option to weigh before the season. After any flooding, we check what the water reached before power is restored.
The outage once the hurricane has passed
The third group on the county's order, people at risk without power, points to the hazard that lasts longest. For a household that is home through an outage, a portable generator can carry chosen circuits once its cord plugs into an outdoor inlet box. Behind that box sits a manual transfer switch or an interlock plate mounted at the panel, and either one keeps generator power and grid power from feeding the house at the same time. Those circuits are picked at the panel long before a storm has a name. The generator itself runs outdoors, away from doors, windows, and vents, as its manual directs.
Pricing
Free Estimates on Prep Installs, Hourly Billing on Repairs
Custom homes and large or multi-phase projects are estimated as soon as we can, or on the timeline your project sets.
Repair and troubleshooting visits are billed by the hour from arrival: $100 residential, $150 commercial, one-hour minimum, then half-hour increments, plus materials. No trip charge and no service fee. No hidden fees: the 3.5% surcharge on card and ACH payments is listed in our terms.
We don't do upfront pricing. No job has a standard price with us: each one is tailored to the property and the work you've asked for, and priced once we've seen it.
We offer free estimates on installs, upgrades, and replacements in our service area. Estimates aren't free when the job needs troubleshooting or testing to price, falls after hours or outside our service area, needs several meetings to gather information, or is new construction or a custom remodel with multi-party walk-throughs. For most jobs, estimates arrive by email by the end of the next business day, and quotes are good for 30 days.
Our warranty
04If something we installed fails because of our workmanship within 30 days of completion, we waive the hourly labor to put it right. Materials Kennedy Electric purchases for your job carry the manufacturer's one-year warranty. To replace defective materials we supplied, or materials damaged by storm, flood, fire, or other acts of God, we charge a reduced warranty labor rate of $50 an hour residential and $75 an hour commercial. The warranty does not cover materials not purchased by Kennedy Electric, work performed by the customer, or materials the customer purchased or damaged. Our warranty terms are printed on the estimate, the invoice, and the receipt, and the product boxes stay with you so you can register each product with its manufacturer.
Our Wesley Chapel house isn't in Zone A, B, or C. Could an order still cover us?
Water is rising in our Wesley Chapel yard during a storm. Should we switch off the main breaker?
Our Wesley Chapel house is fairly new. Is there electrical prep left to do?
Floodwater covered the air conditioner's disconnect. Can it dry out and go back into service?
Which photos of the electrical equipment are worth taking before a storm?
Reviews
Pasco Homeowners Speak to Our Work
Straight from Google, in our customers' own words.
Request service
Give Your Wesley Chapel House a Head Start on Hurricane Prep
Tell us whether your meter hangs on a mast or sits on a post, whether the yard has held standing water, and the make and model of any generator you own. Our office will reach you during business hours.