As of Friday morning, millions of residents in Florida were still without electricity following Hurricane Milton’s exit from the state and into the Atlantic Ocean.

The formidable storm, which hit the state as a Category 3 hurricane, resulted in at least 14 fatalities and caused extensive damage along Florida’s western coast when it made landfall late Wednesday. It led to flooded neighborhoods, destroyed homes, ripped off the roof of Tropicana Field, and a crane collapsing onto an office building.

Governor Ron DeSantis pointed out that while there was significant destruction, Hurricane Milton was not as destructive as initially anticipated.

“The storm was impactful, but fortunately it did not unfold into the worst-case scenario,” DeSantis expressed during a briefing on Thursday. He highlighted that the storm had weakened prior to hitting land and noted that the initial projections for storm surges were not as severe as those observed during Hurricane Helene.

DeSantis mentioned that Tampa experienced a reverse storm surge, which caused water to recede from the beach instead of flooding the city.

On Thursday, power outages continued to rise as the storm moved off the eastern coast of Florida.

Although the western coast of the state faced the most damage from Hurricane Milton, the storm’s effects reached far beyond the initial landfall area. Many residents located further inland also dealt with power outages and road blockages.

Power Outage Statistics in Florida

As of Friday morning, the YSL News power outage tracker indicated that 2.2 million individuals were still without power.

The areas most affected are the west-central coast, with 483,225 residents in Hillsborough County and 460,544 in Pinellas County still lacking electricity. Additionally, Pasco County reported 113,745 outages.

Further south, Sarasota County had 152,471 residents without power, along with 129,181 in Manatee County. Meanwhile, on the east coast, Volusia County reported 139,835 homes and businesses without electricity.

Down in Polk County, located south of Orlando, 136,292 residents were also without power.

Efforts to Restore Power

Once power disruptions occur, extensive restoration efforts are initiated whenever safe conditions allow.

According to their latest news release, Florida Power and Light Company reported that by Thursday afternoon, they had restored power to over 730,000 customers. The company has mobilized around 17,000 personnel to assess damage, coordinate with local emergency services, and restore power as soon as possible.

“Although challenges like storm surge, flooding, downed trees, and tornadoes are complicating restoration efforts, damage assessment teams statewide are assisting FPL in directing the appropriate personnel and equipment to restore power safely and swiftly,” FPL stated.

Restoration efforts prioritize restoring power to the largest number of customers quickly. According to FPL, restoration priorities include:

• Power plants, damaged lines, and substations
• Essential services such as hospitals, police and fire departments, communication centers, water treatment facilities, and transportation providers
• Main roads providing access to supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations, and other vital community resources
• Smaller, localized areas thereafter