- October 9, 2024
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When Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, power was knocked out for hundreds of thousands along Florida's Gulf Coast.
As of 9 p.m., more than 700,000 customers in the region are experiencing outages.
Many more outages are expected.
Local power companies, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene a couple of weeks back, have been getting ready for major outages across the region. Given the strength of Milton, and that it headed straight for the Gulf Coast, the companies have warned that the number of outages will be massive and long-lasting.
Duke Energy alone is mobilizing 10,000 responders to deal with expects to be 1 million outages. Florida Power & Light has assembled a crew of 17,000 workers from 40 states.
Follow the Business Observer for updates on power outages and restoration efforts following Hurricane Milton.
11:20 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
According to TECO's outage map, 278,511 customers are without power.
9:10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
Nearly 166,500 customers are without power, Tampa Electric reported as of 9:05 p.m.
8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
Tampa Electric is reporting 104,299 customers without power as of 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
7:38 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 9
Tampa Electric’s outage map is reporting 63,360 outages at 7:30 Wednesday evening. That an increase of more than 44,000 since an earlier report at 5 p.m.
As the storm intensifies, the numbers are expected to continue rising.
5:10 p.m. Oct. 9
According to TECO's outage map, 19,319 customers are without power as the outer bands of the storm make landfall in Tampa Bay.
Tampa Electric says it has more than 5,000 utility workers, from as far away as Texas and Minnesota in place to help assess damage and restore power once the storm passes. It says that this is its “largest crew in its history.”
The power company says that despite 52% of electric distribution system being underground, the magnitude of Milton “is unprecedented” and leading to extensive damage to trees that will affect overhead lines.
“Hurricane Milton is expected to cause significant destruction across the region, leading to a longer restoration process than we’ve experienced in the past,” Archie Collins, TECO’s president and CEO says in a statement.
11 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
In Sarasota County, 226,890 FPL customers without power, which is 76% of all county customers; 27,310 have been restored.
In Manatee County, 163,650 FPL customers without power, which is 76% of all county customers; 5,520 have been restored.
For Florida Power & Light outage information across the state, visit FPLMaps.com.
For personalized outage information, visit FPL.com/my-account/web-outage.html.
9:05 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
More than half of Sarasota and Manatee county FPL customers are experiencing outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton making landfall, according to FPL's outage map. There are 160,400 customers without power in Sarasota County and 127,420 without power in Manatee County.
8:50 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
As Hurricane Milton was about to make landfall in Sarasota County, there were 26,500 customers without power there, according to FPL at 8 p.m. In neighboring Manatee County, 33,620 customers were experiencing outages, officials said.
7:15 Wednesday Oct. 9
With Hurricane Milton nearly making landfall, Florida Power & Light is already reporting 22,490 outages in the storm zone.
The largest swath is in Manatee County where 8,460 were without power at about 7:15 Wednesday night. Sarasota County had 2,560 outages as of 7 p.m.
In a note to customers on its website, the company warns customers that “you may experience longer than normal restoration times following the storm.”
11:17 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
According to TECO's outage map, 121,461 customers are without power, which is 48% of all LCEC customers.
8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
More than 37,000 were without power in the Lee County Electric Cooperative's service area. The most heavily impacted appeared to be Fort Myers and Marco Island.
7:31 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 9
While the brunt of Hurricane Milton is set to hit between Sarasota and Tampa, Southwest Florida is not immune to the effects.
According to the Lee County Electric Cooperative, 15,115 were without power early Wednesday evening. North Fort Myers West was suffering the most with 19% of customers — 6,868 — facing outages.
11:25 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
According to Duke Energy's outage map, 573,541 customers are without power. In Pinellas County, 388,165 are without power, 70% of total county customers.
9:10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
More than 228,600 Pinellas County customers were without power as of 9:10 p.m.
8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
More than 203,100 customers were without power in Pinellas County, according to Duke Energy.
7:22 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 9
Pinellas residents are already seeing major power outages across the length of the county.
As of Wednesday evening, Duke Energy was reporting 74,000 outages mostly in the cities along the eastern edge of the county. About 20,000 properties were without power in St. Petersburg and its immediate vicinity.
Another 13,000 outages were clustered along the northern end of Pinellas.
