(Reuters) – More than 2.6 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida on Thursday as Hurricane Ian marched across the state, according to local power companies.
Ian, which hit Florida on Wednesday, has affected about 3.3 million power customers so far. That means some utilities have restored service now that the storm has passed through their territory even though the number of current outages has increased as the storm moves north.
Rescue workers and residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast searched for missing people and picked up the pieces from wrecked homes after Ian tore through the area with howling winds, torrential rains and raging surf.
In its latest advisory, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Ian, now a tropical storm, was in the Atlantic Ocean after crossing Florida.
The NHC expects the storm to strengthen back into a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles (121 kilometers) per hour before it slams into the South Carolina coast on Friday.
The utility with the most outages so far was Florida Power & Light Co (FPL), a unit of Florida energy company NextEra Energy Inc.
FPL said it has already restored service to over 600,000 customers affected by the storm, but “anticipates some customers will face prolonged outages because portions of the electric system in Southwest Florida will need to be rebuilt rather than repaired.”
FPL said it increased its restoration workforce from around 13,000 before the storm hit to more than 20,000 personnel, including mutual assistance from utilities and others in 30 states.
Major outages by utility:
Power Company State/Pro Out Now Customers Served
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NextEra – FPL FL 1,190,000 5,280,000
Duke – Florida FL 647,000 1,766,000
Emera – Tampa Electric FL 279,400 800,000
Lee County Electric Co-op FL 222,700 238,000
Orlando Utilities Commission FL 76,100 269,000
Lake Land Electric FL 56,000 133,500
Peace River Electric Co-op FL 49,200 55,200
Clay Electric Co-op FL 26,200 186,500
New Smyrna Beach Utilities FL 19,400 29,900
Withlacoochee River Electric Co-op FL 18,000 236,800
Glades Electric Co-op FL 12,800 17,000
SECO Energy FL 10,000 224,300
Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) FL 7,500 509,900
Kissimmee Utility Authority FL 4,200 14,900
Total Out 2,618,500
Source: Company web sites, Poweroutage.us
(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
