8 p.m.: Gov's office release based on 'misunderstanding'

8 p.m.

Remember that time the Governor's Office sent out a sharply worded press release decrying the pace of the restoration and suggesting the city and county had declined assistance from FDOT? (see 6 p.m. update). You can forget about it now.

The governor's office now says, according to Associated Press Bulldog Gary Fineout, that the press release was "a misunderstanding" - a "misunderstanding" caused when the county reportedly turned down FDOT assistance on behalf of the city. According to a tweet by Fineout, "that wasn't supposed to happen. Fixed now."

Leon County manager Vince Long told the Democrat the county has been working with FDOT to help remove storm debris since the storm hit.

"The county has availed itself of all available assistance from the state, and we will continue to do so," he said.

According to Fineout, the mayor did accept Scott's offer (with the 8 p.m. deadline) to have the state pay for private contractors to do debris and tree removal and overline work.

"My highest concern continues to be the 100 percent restoration of power for the citizens of Tallahassee," Gillum told the Democrat." And I appreciate and welcome the support from the Governor's Office and state agencies to help us advance to that end."

We now return to the business of restoring power to the masses. And there's some good news there. The last time we checked in at 1 p.m., 36,460 customers were without power. Now seven hours later we are sitting prettier with 27,500 in the dark. The bad news is there are still 27,500 customers in the dark.

6 p.m.

Noting that 40,000 homes and businesses are still offline, Gov. Rick Scott fired out a press release saying he is devoting additional resources to Leon County to "help quickly restore power."

“There are still too many people without power in the City of Tallahassee and Leon County and as you would expect, I will not be satisfied until it is fully restored," he said in a prepared statement. "Today, I have identified contractors from private companies that can remove downed trees and fallen tree limbs as well as other debris that impacts downed power lines in Tallahassee. These contractors can also provide over- line support to the debris removal crews."

The move is likely to further politicize the power restoration effort. Mayor Andrew Gillum has been pushing back against critics who maintain his decisions are slowing down the restoration effort.

UPDATE: The politics of power? Gillum pushes back on critics

Scott seemed to be squarely on the side of those critics with his pointed comments.

“While power restoration efforts are ongoing, I would like to do everything possible to increase the pace of power restoration. I am committed to making every resource available to assist the City of Tallahassee to fully restore power. The residents of Tallahassee deserve nothing less than 100 percent power restoration. I asked Mayor Gillum to let me know today by 8 p.m. if the city will utilize these efforts so we can quickly deploy help to impacted areas.

“This afternoon, as a matter of public safety, I have directed the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to immediately begin surveying downed power lines throughout Leon County and clearly mark them as a hazard so the public knows to stay away. I am also directing FDOT to survey bus stops, school entrances, hospitals, and medical facilities and report any downed power lines that may be a public safety issue. I hope this will be helpful to the city and county. As I traveled Tallahassee, these issues are still unresolved by city and county government.

“I was also informed this morning that the City of Tallahassee and Leon County have declined further ‘cut-and-toss’ assistance from FDOT to clear debris such as downed trees and fallen tree limbs. I continue to hear from residents that this is needed. FDOT stands ready to continue providing this service to the City and County."

3:45 p.m.:

Leon County and Wakulla schools will prepare to reopen on Wednesday, according to Superintendent Jackie Pons, who said he will ask the governor for a waiver on making up the lost days.

Pons pointed to the fact that many thousands in the city are still without power. Some schools have also not been powered up.  In the run-up to Wednesday, the district will be removing tree limbs and working "food service logistics." Drivers will also be running the bus routes to make sure there are no obstructions in the roadway.

FSU And TCC students are also planning to head back to class on Wednesday. FAMU told the Democrat on Saturday that they will reopen on Tuesday unless conditions change.

FSU closed till Wednesday; LCS weighs options

3:30 p.m.

More help is on the way in the form of a 150-man crew from Gulf Power Company.

Crews originally headed home to Pensacola from a job site in Georgia will make a stop in Tallahassee and work until power is completely restored, according to a release from the city.

"We are fortunate the additional GPC crews are in close proximity and available to join their colleagues in helping to get our city back up and running,” City Manager Ricardo Fernandez said. “This is a very challenging time for our community, but we are steadily and safely making progress thanks to coordinated efforts with our partners.”

Expanding upon the current agreement, 77 power engineers, 50 lineman and 27 support staff will coordinate with the existing GPC team. They will bring with them two pole trucks and 19 bucket trucks.

Since winds receded, crews have been able to restore power to approximately 35,000 city utility customers. With the damage to the transmission lines and substations now repaired, work is focused on power lines that will restore power the largest number of customers. As of last night, 50 percent of area schools had been restored. Approximately 95 percent of signalized intersections are operational.

1:30 p.m.

Got a question about Hurricane Hermine recovery efforts? Operators are standing by at 2-1-1 to answer questions, offer guidance and provide intel about community resources.

And if you want to get cool or get some food or water, check out these lists.

Where to cool down, get water, hot meals

1 p.m. update

This isn't necessarily good news. If the latest power outage map as of 12:52 p.m. is to be believed, it has us going in the wrong direction. In our 10:30 p.m. update, we noted that "33,873 customers are sweating it out as linemen from eight different companies and three different states work to repair power poles and transmission lines." The current map shows 36,640 customers without power. Still we've seengood gains since last night when 47,000 customers were trying to get to sleep in a hot house. Here's the latest city map. We've been watching it a lot. It's far less solid red, but it's become more scattered.

The city's Alison Faris said such swings up and down are common in that crews oftentimes must bring customers in one area down to tie powerless customers back into the power grid.

"You see that kind of fluctuation so crews can safely tie in to the system," she said.

Some VERY good news on a different facet of the power front: City of Tallahassee officials report "94% of our traffic lights are operational now. If you're out and about, pls continue to use caution."

It's especially good news for drivers who are challenged by blinking and dark lights -- and those that aren't.

Blacked-out traffic signals snarl traffic

12:45 p.m. update

Drink up! The city of Tallahassee just tweeted "The City's water remains 100% safe and clean to drink." The Tweet became necessary after a false precautionary boil water notice was making the rounds on Facebook. It turns out the official notice on the talgov.com web page was an old link that was never scrubbed from the city's site. The web page has since been deleted.

Talquin has issued some precautionary boil water notices, but has rescinded some of them. For the latest from them, visit https://www.talquinelectric.com/category/news/    

12:30 p.m. Update:

For a list of current road closures, view the list below as updated by the city and county at noon. You can also use the city's live traffic map to determine traffic flow in your area. If you are an iPhoner, Siri can also show you roads that are backed up. They are the roads highlighted in a mean-looking red color.

• 6th Avenue BTW Cherry and Gilchrist
• N Meridian Rd./ Desoto St.
• 522 Williams St.
• Lonnbladh Rd./Springwood Dr.
• 2248 Trescott Dr.
• Abbottsford/Waverly
• Idlewild Dr./Quick Dr.
• Lonnbladh/Windsong
• Coombs Dr./Brown
• Charles/N. Ride
• 500 Vinnedge Ridge
• 2507 Bettonwood
• 1012 Cheerry Laurel/Short St.
• 1559 Payne St.
• 1100 Maclay Rd.
• Wintergreen and Riggins
• Alachua Ave. BTW Short and Magnolia
• Farrinbon and Faversham Dr.
• 1605 Redwood Dr
• Carriage Rd.
• Hickory and Spruce
• 2121 Olivia Dr.
• 491 Plantation
• Sycamore
• 2402 Delgado Dr.
• Rumba Ln/Rumba Ct.
• Raa and Myrick
• N Bronough/W 4th Ave
• Escambia/Dixie
• 2400 W Tharpe St
• Amelia Cir (Unk blk)
• 724 Ivanhoe Rd
• 206 Cactus
• Pecan Rd/Fannie Dr
• Tanglewood/Rosemary
• Orange Ave and Blairstone
• Chuli Nene/Apakin Nene
• 3010 Prospect St
• E Indian Head Dr Chockasacka Nene
• St. Augustine Rd and Blairstone Rd
• S Meridian and Union
• Holokin/Chuli Nene
• Circle Dr/Country Club
• 1800 blk of Tamiami Dr
• Old Ford Dr/Limbo Ln
• Alpha Street/East of Drury
• Drury St/Between Alpha/Omega
• Azalea/Seminole
• Hart/Oakland
• Meridian Rd/Oakland
• 1818 Larette Dr
• 1683 Kay Ave
• 3704 Shoreline Dr
• Caldwell Dr, south of Roberts Ave
• 2832 McArthur
• Mabry St./Kelly St.
• 2200 Block of Keith St.
• 1618 Belle Vue Way
• Kissimee St. and Daisy
• 813 Millard St.
• Bragg Rd and S Adams St.
• Holton St and Liberty St.
• 1900 blk Belle Vue Way
• Murat south of Belle Vue Way
• Sebring/S. MLK Blvd
• Pauls Dr

11. And traffic lights. And boil water and road closures

10:30 p.m. update

With some residents reaching their boiling points, the race to restore power continues.

Since last night City of Tallahassee Utilities appears to have powered up thousands of customers. Currently 33,873 customers are sweating it out as linemen from eight different companies and three different states work to repair power poles and transmission lines. Last night's update projected that 47,000 customers were powerless. Click here for the latest map.

HOW COT UTILITIES RESTORES POWER

Meanwhile, the restoration effort has become politicized.

UPDATE: The politics of power? Gillum pushes back on critics

And Leon County Schools will be making the call at a press conference today. Will they join FSU and TCC for a Wednesday start or join FAMU for a Tuesday opening.

FSU closed till Wednesday; LCS weighs options

A whole lot of food is going to waste.

Walmart forced to pitch perishables as residents line up for staples

And it's a good time to reflect on how this all began.

Mike Rucker: Hermine by the numbers