The effort to restore power in southwest Florida continued Thursday as the search and recovery mission for anyone still trapped inside flooded or damaged homes after Hurricane Ian continued.
Over 200,000 customers remained without power in Florida Thursday, more than a week after Ian made landfall in the state.
Ian knocked out power to 2.6 million customers across Florida after it roared ashore with 150 mph winds and a powerful storm surge. State officials said they expect power to be restored by Sunday to customers whose power lines and other electric infrastructure is still intact.
IAN AFTERMATH
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The number of storm-related deaths in Florida has risen to 126 in recent days, NBC News reported.
There have been deaths in vehicle wrecks, drownings and accidents. A man drowned after becoming trapped under a vehicle. Another got trapped trying to climb through a window. And a woman died when a gust of wind knocked her off her porch while she was smoking a cigarette as the storm approached, authorities said.
In hardest-hit Lee County, Florida, all storm-related deaths were people over age 50.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited southwest Florida on Wednesday. The two arrived in Fort Myers on Air Force One and were met by rescue workers and others at the airport before boarding a helicopter to tour the damaged areas by air.
After touring the damage, Biden and the first lady met with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis. DeSantis and his wife greeted the president and first lady Jill Biden as they arrived at Fisherman's Wharf, where homes and business lay in ruins amid debris and muck after Hurricane Ian tore through last week.
The political foes pledged to put their rivalry aside and marshal federal, state and local help to rebuild homes, businesses and lives.
"Today we have one job and only one job, and that’s to make sure the people in Florida get everything they need to fully, thoroughly recover,” Biden said.
"It’s going to take a hell of a long time, hopefully without any snags in the way," he said. “Later, after the television cameras have moved on, we’re still going to be here with you."
At a briefing with local officials, Biden emphasized that the rebuilding effort will take months or years.
"The only thing I can assure you is that the federal government will be here until it’s finished,” Biden said.
Biden and DeSantis spoke by themselves next to a boat the storm had lifted into a cafe, then moved separately among local residents hit hard by the hurricane. Biden embraced one woman.
DeSantis made a point Wednesday of praising FEMA along with local and state agencies, saying coordination among them has been exceptional during Ian's aftermath.
“There’s been less bureaucracy holding us back in this one than probably any one I’ve ever seen,” DeSantis said a briefing in Matlacha. He gave a 30-minute midday briefing on hurricane recovery efforts, including news that running water had been restored through much of the affected zone.
Biden also met with residents and small business owners in Fort Myers and to thank government officials providing emergency aid and removing debris.
The president visited an area especially devastated by winds and surging tides. Boats, including huge yachts, were capsized and hurled inland.
The wharf lies on one side of the bridge that leads into Fort Myers Beach, which was brutalized by the Category 4 storm. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters on Air Force One Wednesday that the cost of rebuilding will be huge.
“It will certainly be in the billions and perhaps one of the more costly disasters that we’ve seen in many years," Criswell said.
Meanwhile, as floodwaters begin to recede, power restoration has become job one in the state.
Eric Silagy, Chairman and CEO of Florida Power & Light — the largest power provider in the state — said he understands the frustration and that 21,000 utility workers from 30 states are working as hard as they can to restore power as quickly as possible. The utility expects to have power restored to 95% of its service areas by the end of the day Friday, he said.
The remaining 5% are mostly special situations where it's difficult to restore electricity, such as the home being so damaged it can’t receive power or the area still being flooded. Those outages don't include customers whose homes or businesses were destroyed.
Power restoration is always a key challenge after major hurricanes, when high winds and flying debris can topple power lines or major parts of the electricity infrastructure.
Silagy said the utility has invested $4 billion over the last 10 years to harden its infrastructure, doing things like burying more power lines, noting that 40% of its distribution system is now underground. The utility is also using more technology such as drones that can stay aloft for hours to get a better picture of damage, and sensors at substations that alert the utility to flooding so it can shut off parts of the system before the water arrives.
Silagy said he saw during Ian where those investments paid off. Concrete utility poles remained standing at Fort Myers Beach, where many homes and businesses were wiped away. The company also didn’t lose a single transmission structure in the 8,000 miles it covers in Florida.
Meanwhile, in Florida neighborhoods still without power, many residents have been sharing generators to keep things like refrigerators cool, and using outdoor grills to cook.
In Bonita Springs, Paula Arbuckle was sitting outside her one-story home while the sound of the generator under her carport roared. She bought a generator after Hurricane Irma left her neighborhood without power in 2017. She hadn't used it since, but after Ian took out the lights, she’s been sharing it with her next-door neighbor. Arbuckle said it’s difficult being without power.
"But I’m not the only one," she said. Gesturing to her neighbor’s house she said: "I have a generator. They have a little baby over there. So we’re sharing the generator between the two homes."
DeSantis said Tuesday that he's directed the Florida Department of Transportation to prioritize repairs to the Sanibel Causeway, which was heavily damaged by Ian.
The governor said the causeway could be accessible by the end of October, which would help with recovery efforts including power restoration and debris removal.
