The Atlantic

More Than 10 Million People Lost Power in Florida

Thanks to Hurricane Irma, the southwest of the state’s electrical grid will need a “wholesale rebuild.”
Source: Reuters / Gregg Newton

Hurricane Irma slammed the west coast of Florida on Sunday, making landfall first in the Keys and then at Marco Island, 15 miles south of Naples. Since then, it’s been making its way northward, visiting destruction on the state as it weakens.

As the storm progressed through Florida, it knocked out the lights all over the state. In a press conference Monday morning, Eric Silagy, the president of the state’s largest electric utility, Florida Power and Light, estimated that more than half the state is without power. That’s more than 10 million people, which dwarfs the number who lost electricity during Hurricane

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