Over 4,000 Manatee County homes without power in Hurricane Debby’s aftermath

UPDATE: As of Tuesday morning, power has been restored to most homes. Florida Power & Light has opened several outage relief sites around Manatee County for those still without power.

Over 4,000 Manatee County homes are without power on Monday morning in the aftermath of Hurricane Debby.

Debby passed Southwest Florida as a tropical storm more than 100 miles off the coast before rapidly intensifying into a Category 1 hurricane late Sunday night.

As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, Florida Power & Light reported 3,610 customers without power. Around 2:45, the number was down to 2,870 homes.

“Crews are restoring power in between weather bands as conditions allow. Remember to stay far away from flooding, downed power lines and debris,” FPL said in a storm update.

Manatee County’s other electric provider, Peace River Electric Cooperative, reported 602 customers without power on Monday morning. As of 2:45 p.m., the number had climbed to 1,416 homes.

How does Debby compare to recent storms?

Debby had a minimal impact on the Bradenton area’s power grid compared to other recent tropical storms.

Hurricane Idalia in August 2023 knocked out power to nearly 18,000 homes, and Hurricane Ian in September 2022 took over two-thirds of Manatee County’s electricity offline.

Check power outage status

▪ To check FPL’s outage map, visit FPLMaps.com

▪ To check Peace River’s outage map, visit Members.PRECo.coop/maps/OutageWebMap/

This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 11:50 AM.