Hurricane Ian: When Will Power Come Back On In Florida?

FLORIDA — More than 1.8 million Florida homes and businesses remain without power two days after Hurricane Ian slammed into the state's southwest coast, bringing 155 mph winds and devastating storm surge.

While the number is down from nearly 3.5 million, many Floridians are still relying on generators and wondering when utility companies will restore power to their homes.

Friday marked the first full day of power restoration for Florida Power & Light crews, according to a statement from the company. Of the 2 million customers who lost power during Ian, crews had restored services to more than 1 million by Friday, the company said.

FPL's workforce of nearly 21,000 people, which includes workers from 30 other states, currently is prioritizing power restoration to places that provide critical services such as 911 centers and hospitals, the company said.

"Hurricane Ian will go down as one of the most destructive and powerful hurricanes to ever hit our state," Eric Silagy, chairman and CEO of FPL, said in a statement. "Getting the lights back on after such a destructive storm is no small task, but it's a challenge we've planned and trained for with an army of workers. Rest assured, we will not stop until every last customer is restored."

Here's an FPL-provided estimate of when services will be restored to different parts of the state:

Southeast Florida

Power has essentially been restored to southeast Florida after Ian's feeder bands hit the area.

Treasure Coast, Central Florida, and North Florida

Some areas along Florida's east coast, particularly Volusia County, are inundated with flood water due to the rainfall. As crews work to restore power where possible, FPL is still assessing damage along Florida's Treasure Coast, central Florida, and north Florida. The company expects to provide estimated times of restoration by Friday evening.

Southwest Florida

The assessment process will take longer in southwest Florida because crews are hampered by extensive flooding, storm surge, downed trees, and other debris, according to FPL. Because of the conditions, FPL officials anticipate many customers will face prolonged outages in some areas. Many homes and businesses may also have suffered damage that makes them unable to accept power safely.

Meanwhile, Duke Energy, which serves 1.9 million customers in the state, said in a tweet that "a majority of customers that can be restored will be restored by Sunday at 11:59 p.m."

More than 680,000 Duke Energy Florida customers lost power during the storm, according to the company's website. As of 2 p.m. Friday, more than 432,000 customers remained without power.

Before the storm, Duke Energy staged more than 10,000 workers across Florida to help with restoration efforts.

"We want customers to know we are committed to working as quickly and safely as possible to get the lights back on," Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president, said in a statement. "We thank all our customers for their patience."

How To Stay Informed

FPL communicates restoration information to customers using the following resources:

• FPL website: FPL.com  
• Twitter: twitter.com/insideFPL 
• Facebook: facebook.com/FPLconnect  
• FPL Power Tracker: FPL.com/powertracker 
• FPL Power Tracker (northwest Florida): FPL.com/mypowertracker

Find Duke Energy updates in the following places:

• Duke Energy website: duke-energy.com
• Twitter: twitter.com/DukeEnergy
• Facebook: facebook.com/duke.energy
• Interactive outage map
• The company also communicates updates through emails, text messages and phone calls.