Four days after Hurricane Ian smashed into Southwest Florida, about 13,000 customers remain without power across the Tampa Bay region.
Tampa Electric Co. reported that more than 12,900 were without power as of Sunday evening across the company’s coverage area, which spans 2,000 square miles, including Hillsborough County and parts of Polk, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Tampa Electric planned to have power restored to most customers by Sunday night, according to a statement released Saturday, though some areas of eastern Hillsborough and Polk County may not have power until Monday night. Earlier Sunday, 24,000 were without power.
In Pinellas County, at least 78 customers remained without power Sunday evening, according to Duke Energy’s online outage map.
On Friday, the company had hoped for power to be back in both counties by Saturday night, but more than 2,400 were without power Sunday morning.
The numbers of those waking up without power have steadily declined since Thursday morning. The more than half-million locations in Tampa Bay were among 2.7 million customers statewide without power following the Category 4 hurricane.
Both companies said they have thousands of workers — power line technicians, tree trimmers and others — working around the clock to restore power. Many crews were brought in from other states before the storm, Duke said.
In total, about 295,000 of TECO’s more than 810,000 customers were impacted by the storm. By 5 p.m. Saturday, power had been restored to 243,000 customers, or 82% of those affected.
As of Saturday late afternoon, Duke said it had restored power to more than 861,000 customers. The company serves 1.9 million customers across the state. Localized flooding in some areas has hampered the company’s ability to restore power.
Times Staff Writer Divya Kumar contributed to this report.
• • •
Tampa Bay Times Hurricane Ian coverage
HOW TO HELP: Where to donate or volunteer to help Hurricane Ian victims.
FEMA: Floridians hurt by Ian can now apply for FEMA assistance. Here’s how.
THE STORM HAS PASSED: Now what? Safety tips for returning home.
POST-STORM QUESTIONS: After Hurricane Ian, how to get help with fallen trees, food, damaged shelter.
WEATHER EFFECTS: Hurricane Ian was supposed to slam Tampa Bay head on. What happened?
WHAT TO DO IF HURRICANE DAMAGES YOUR HOME: Stay calm, then call your insurance company.
SCHOOLS: Will schools reopen quickly after Hurricane Ian passes? It depends.
MORE STORM COVERAGE: Get ready and stay informed at tampabay.com/hurricane.