Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm, has left millions of residents in the state without power. As of Friday morning, 2.2 million Floridians were still experiencing power outages, with the hardest-hit areas being along the west-central coast, particularly Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, where hundreds of thousands of residents are in the dark. Pasco County has also been severely impacted, with over 113,000 outages reported.
Tampa Electric (TECO) has provided a timeline for power restoration, aiming to have most residents’ power back by Thursday, October 17. They plan to restore power to Pasco County by Monday, October 14, followed by Polk County on Tuesday, October 15. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, the most affected areas, are expected to have 55% of power restored by Sunday, October 13, and 75% by Tuesday, October 15, with full restoration by Thursday, October 17. TECO has already restored power to over 310,000 customers but noted that uprooted trees and debris are causing delays in certain areas. They are receiving assistance from over 6,000 utility workers from various regions, including Canada, Texas, and Minnesota.
Despite widespread damage, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis remarked that Hurricane Milton was not as catastrophic as initially feared. While the storm caused extensive flooding, property destruction, and the deaths of at least 14 people, the storm surge was not as severe as in past hurricanes, such as Hurricane Helene. Tampa experienced an unusual reverse storm surge, which pushed water away from the shoreline instead of overwhelming the city. However, many inland areas are still facing power outages and road blockages.
Hurricane Milton’s path of destruction caused significant damage to infrastructure, including the tearing off of the roof of Tropicana Field and the collapse of a crane into an office building. While recovery efforts are ongoing, TECO President and CEO Archie Collins reassured customers that power would be restored within a week, if not sooner, depending on the severity of flooding and debris in various areas.
