Hurricane Irma: Florida Power Outages Over 3.6 Million As Storm Progresses

Hurricane Irma officially made landfall in the lower Florida Keys late Sunday morning as millions of Floridians left their homes in anticipation of the dangerous Atlantic hurricane. Overnight, Irma was downgraded to a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 75 mph as it barreled through Tampa overnight.

Hurricane Irma made landfall in Cudjoe Key in the lower Florida Keys, bringing with it torrential rains and howling winds, wreaking havoc across South Florida before making a second landfall on Florida's mainland and landing in Marco Island just before 4 p.m. As Irma moved over the Tampa Bay area Florida Monday morning, millions were without power in the state, according to Florida Power and Light. (For the latest on Irma, find your local Florida Patch to subscribe for real-time alerts and newsletter. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

As the state prepared for the storm, FPL warned that it expected millions of customers to lose power, with some areas experiencing prolonged outages. FPL has more than 16,000 workers, both from FPL and other utility companies, ready to respond to restoration needs, which the company said it anticipates to be a "significant and challenging" effort.

Also See: What Exactly Is Storm Surge, And Why Does It Have Floridians Worried?

FPL warned customers to make safety their top priority and stay away from downed power lines, flooding and debris.

Below are the most up to date figures of power outages in the state that Patch checked at 6 a.m,:

Miami-Dade County: 800,710

Broward County: 641,900

Monroe County: 90

Collier County: 192,200

Lee County: 223,200

Charlotte County: 71,030

DeSoto County: 14,340

Sarasota County: 177,580

Manatee County: 109,390

Highlands County: 420

Glades County: 2,420

Hendry County: 9,700

Palm Beach County: 526,330

Martin County: 75,190

St Lucie County: 95,010

Okeechobee County: 18,840

Indian River County: 47,270

Brevard County: 264,670

Seminole County: 39,430

Volusia County: 121,470

Putnam County: 17,910

Flagler County: 49,410

St Johns County: 66,370

Bradford County: 3,140

Baker County: 4,830

Union County: 770

Nassau County: 21,760

In Tampa, over 300,000 TECO customers lost power. See the outage map here.

In the Keys, the Florida Keys Electric Cooperative Association reports that over 21,000 people are without power.

For the latest on power outages, check the FPL live outage map. Patch will also periodically update this post.

Photo by David Goldman/Associated Press