Florida Power & Light expects to essentially finish restoring power in Okaloosa County by the end of the day Monday, Oct. 12, the company said in a release issued Sunday.
- FPL said it has restored power to essentially all customers in Bay, Washington, Holmes, Walton and Jackson counties.
The company revised its estimate for Santa Rosa and Escambia counties. Most customers there are expected to come back on Monday, with the remaining customers in the hardest-hit portions of those counties coming online Tuesday, Oct. 13, according to FPL.
Outages in Okaloosa and Walton counties
As of early Monday morning, 3,100 FPL customers in Okaloosa County remained without power, according to the company’s outage data. FPL has restored 82,380 of the 85,480 Okaloosa customers affected by the storm, about 96%.
In Walton County, 1,200 FPL customers were without power and 25,310 had been restored, out of 26,510 affected.
Across the eight Panhandle counties in FPL’s data, 112,620 customers were without power and 322,530 had been restored:
| County | Out | Restored | Affected | Total served |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay | 1,740 | 61,940 | 63,680 | 119,730 |
| Escambia | 66,900 | 96,960 | 163,860 | 168,860 |
| Holmes | 90 | 1,740 | 1,830 | 2,670 |
| Jackson | 60 | 570 | 630 | 1,370 |
| Okaloosa | 3,100 | 82,380 | 85,480 | 101,550 |
| Santa Rosa | 39,390 | 46,930 | 86,320 | 86,320 |
| Walton | 1,200 | 25,310 | 26,510 | 28,330 |
| Washington | 140 | 6,700 | 6,840 | 7,270 |
Overall estimate lowered to 85%
Of the 435,000 FPL customers impacted by Hurricane Isaias, the company now expects 85% will be restored by the end of the day Monday, including all schools, hospitals and critical facilities. That is a revision of the company’s initial estimate of 95%.
FPL aims to restore power to 95% of customers by end of day Monday after Hurricane Isaias
Florida Power & Light is targeting the end of Monday to restore 95% of customers impacted by Hurricane Isaias. More than 98,000 have been restored.
FPL President and CEO Scott Bores said damage assessments in the hardest-hit areas showed more tree damage than first estimated.
“As we continued our damage assessments in the hardest hit areas of the region, we discovered the tree damage to our system was much more severe and widespread than our initial estimates showed,” Bores said. “We’ve also seen trees on lines and broken and leaning poles that will require more extensive and complex work.”
As of 10 p.m. Sunday, FPL had restored power to more than 70% of customers impacted by the storm, according to the release.
Restoration estimates by county
FPL released these estimated restoration times, which exclude customers who cannot safely accept service:
- Essentially restored by end of day Sunday, Oct. 11: Bay, Holmes, Jackson, Washington and Walton counties.
- Essentially restored by end of day Monday, Oct. 12: Okaloosa County and portions of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, including all schools and critical infrastructure facilities.
- Essentially restored by end of day Tuesday, Oct. 13: Remaining, hardest-hit portions of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Even after power is restored, some customers may continue to experience outages or flickers as crews find and repair storm damage that was not immediately visible, the company said.
The restoration effort
FPL said nearly 17,000 workers from 29 states are working around the clock. The company is operating 15 staging and parking sites and has completed 189 drone and helicopter flights to assess damage.
The company said its smart grid technology avoided more than 130,000 outages and that underground power lines performed more than eight times better than overhead lines, according to initial forensics.
Help for customers
Customers without power can visit one of 15 FPL customer outage relief stations across the region for ice, water and answers to restoration questions. Locations are listed at fplmaps.com/reliefsites.
Some homes and businesses may have damage that makes them unable to safely accept power. Eligible customers may qualify for financial assistance through FPL’s Care to Share program to help offset the cost of repairing electrical equipment needed to receive service, according to the company. Applications are available at FPL.com/assistance.
Customers can report outages at FPL.com or by calling 1-800-4-OUTAGE (1-800-468-8243), and can track restoration at FPL.com/PowerTracker. Anyone who encounters downed power lines or sparking electrical equipment should call 911 or 1-800-4-OUTAGE, the company said.
