More than 2.5 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida early Thursday after being hit by Hurricane Ian on Wednesday, according to local power companies.
Ian has affected more than 3 million customers so far. That means some utilities have restored service now that the storm has passed through their service areas even though the number of current outages was increasing as the storm moves north.
Hurricane Ian, one of the mightiest to hit the U.S. mainland in recent years, flooded communities as it battered Florida’s Gulf Coast with howling winds, torrential rains and raging surf. read more
In its latest advisory, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ian, now a tropical storm, was still expected to produce strong winds, heavy rains and a storm surge across portions of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas as it heads north.
FPL said in a release that it has already restored service to over 500,000 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.”