LEON COUNTY, Fla. — Leon County is ready for one of the biggest problems we face during storms, power outages.
Being able to keep the lights on was a big lesson learned from Hurricane Michael last October. So the county's taking extra steps to make sure drivers are safe while getting around.
There's no doubt that after the storm passes, communities are left with big challenges. For anyone trying to get around on the road, not having working traffic lights could put your safety at risk.
We reported in May that the county would start using generators to back up traffic lights.
On Tuesday, we learned that 185 of them are being store by the county and City of Tallahassee, ready to bring the lights back on due to severe weather.
When traffic lights are down, intersections should be treated like four way stops. Not everyone knows the rules of the road though and drivers could be left in a dangerous situation.
"Following Hurricane Michael is that the state of Florida invested in a large number of portable generators and they've allocated to counties for use at traffic signals as well as the steps to help bring some stability to any future hurricanes, those traffic signals can be brought back up online pretty quickly with the use of these generators," said Kevin Peters, Emergency Management Director.
Right now those generators are in a storage at a facility in Tallahassee.
Peters says he and other Leon County leaders are watching Tropical Storm Dorian closely and will deploy the generators if needed.
