Power coming back after Milton, but won’t be nearly all on in Manatee until next week: FPL
Power is slowly returning to Manatee and Sarasota counties in southwest Florida, but the electrical grid won’t get to 95 percent restoration until the end of next week, FPL said.
As of 5:30 p.m. Saturday, about 36%, or about 96,000 customers in Manatee County, remained without power, according to Find Energy. That’s a significant decrease from 80% on Thursday, the first day after Hurricane Milton slammed the Gulf Coast Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm packing 120 mph winds.
Only two other counties are experiencing more power outages than Manatee: Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
READ MORE : Live Updates: Sarasota Bradenton airport to remain closed until Wednesday after Milton
Just under 96,000 of those affected in Manatee are customers of Florida Power & Light, the Juno Beach-based utility in Palm Beach County. The remaining are served by Peace River Electric.
In neighboring Sarasota County — where Hurricane Milton made landfall, slamming into Siesta Key, a barrier island off Sarasota — about 26%, or about 78,000 FPL customers, are without power, a slight decrease from Friday’s 46%.
FPL says it aims to restore 95% of power to Manatee and Sarasota counties by Wednesday, Oct. 16.
The utility did not indicate when the remaining 5 percent in the two counties would have their power restored.
READ MORE:Which Florida counties are still without power after Hurricane Milton? Take a look
The company’s timeline also said 95 percent of its customers in Brevard and Desoto would regain power by Sunday, and Charlotte, DeSoto, Flagler, Indian River, Seminole and Volusia counties would have their power restored by Tuesday, Oct. 15. Brevard, Flagler, Indian River and Volusia counties are on the state’s East Coast.
By end-of-day Sunday, FPL says it aims for 90% of its customers to have power restored.
This story was originally published October 12, 2024 at 9:50 AM.
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