About 30,000 in Manatee and Sarasota counties still without power post-Milton

As Southwest Florida deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, power is slowly returning to customers in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, about 12% of customers, or 32,474 customers, were still without power in Manatee County, according to Find Energy. That’s a decrease from Sunday, when 22 percent of the county’s electrical customers, or 56,500, were without power

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Of those without power, 32,240 are serviced by FPL while 234 are serviced by Peace River Electric, according to Find Energy.

In Sarasota County, 30,541 customers, or 10 percent of the county’s total, were without power as of 10 a.m. Monday, according to Find Energy. That’s a big change from 80 percent on Thursday, the day after Hurricane Milton slammed Siesta Key Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm packing 120 mph winds.

FPL says 95% of Manatee and Sarasota customers will have power return by the end of Tuesday, Oct. 15.The utility did not say when the remaining 5 percent would have get their power restored.

Statewide, 472,192 customers were without power as of 10 a.m. Monday. That’s down considerably from the 3 million who lost power during or immediately after Hurricane Milton.

The counties that have the most people without power are Pinellas, which had 177,375 customers without power as 10 a.m. Monday, and Hillsborough, with 163,218 customers without power as of Monday morning.

Miami Herald staff writer Ana Claudia Chacin contributed.

This story was originally published October 14, 2024 at 10:54 AM.

Michael Butler

Miami Herald

Michael Butler writes about minority business and trends that affect marginalized professionals in South Florida. As a business reporter for the Miami Herald, he tells inclusive stories that reflect South Florida’s diversity. Just like Miami’s diverse population, Butler, a Temple University graduate, has both local roots and a Panamanian heritage.