A week after Ian: 78 dead, power still out for hundreds of thousands

Nearly a week after Hurricane Ian smashed into Florida and carved a path of destruction that reached into the Carolinas, hundreds of thousands of Florida residents faced another day without electricity Tuesday as rescuers continued their search for those trapped inside homes inundated with lingering floodwaters.

At least 78 people have been confirmed dead from the storm: 71 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba since Ian made landfall on the Caribbean island on Sept. 27, and in Florida a day later.

The number of storm-related deaths has risen in recent days amid ongoing search and rescue efforts in Florida, and could continue to increase as more searches take place in the hardest-hit areas. Florida officials said that as of Monday more than 1,900 people have been rescued statewide.

But for many Florida residents, power restoration has become job one.

Ian knocked out power to 2.6 million customers across Florida when it roared ashore with 150 mph (241 kph) winds and pushed a powerful storm surge.

About 430,000 homes and businesses in Florida were still without electricity early Tuesday.

Eric Silagy, Chairman and CEO of Florida Power & Light — the largest power provider in the state — said he understands the frustrations and said crews are working as hard as they can to restore power as soon as possible. The utility expects to have power restored to 95% of its service areas by the end of the day Friday, he said.

A utility spokesperson said the remaining 5% comprises mostly cases where there’s a special situation making it difficult to restore power, such as the home being so damaged it can’t receive power or the area still being flooded. Those outages do not include customers whose homes or businesses were destroyed.

Another major electricity provider in the hard-hit coastal region — Lee County Electric Cooperative — said Monday it expects to hit the 95% mark by the end of Saturday. That figure does not include barrier islands like Sanibel that are in its service area.

Power restoration is always a key challenge after major hurricanes when high winds and flying debris can topple power lines that distribute electricity to homes or in more severe storms, damage major parts of the electric infrastructure such as transmission lines or power generation.

Silagy said the utility has invested $4 billion over the last 10 years to harden its infrastructure by doing things such as burying more power lines, noting 40% of their distribution system is now underground. The utility is also using more technology like drones that can stay aloft for hours to get a better picture of damage to the system, and sensors at substations that can alert them to flooding so they can shut off parts of the system before the water hits.

Silagy said he’s seen during Ian where those investments have paid off. On Fort Myers Beach, for example, where so many homes and businesses were wiped away, concrete utility poles remain standing, he said.



Workers for Florida Power and Electric repair a power line damaged by Hurricane Ian in Naples, Fla., on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. The utility said Monday that it expects to have nearly all power restored to its customers with habitable homes by the end of the week. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)