Restoration workers marshaled by Florida Power & Light Company have returned power to 86 percent of customers impacted by Hurricane Wilma. Expected to peak at almost 19,000 workers in the days to come, the restoration team for Wilma is the largest ever assembled by FPL, surpassing all hurricanes in 2004 and Andrew. Workers come from 33 states and Canada. It will continue to focus on restoring service as quickly and safely as possible to all customers remaining without power.
The company projects a completion date of Nov. 8 for 95% of customers.
- West coast customers are now essentially restored.
- Virtually all customers in St. Lucie and Martin counties will have power restored by end of day today.
- In Palm Beach County, customers in the area north of PGA Blvd. will be essentially restored by end of day today.
The restoration force will continue its focus on the tri-county area.
- In Palm Beach County, the areas of Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay will be essentially restored by end of day Nov. 11. All other areas in Palm Beach County south of PGA Blvd, by end of day Nov. 9.
- In Broward, the area west and south of I-75 will be essentially restored by end of day Nov. 9. North of I-595 and west of University Dr., by end of day Nov. 9. All other areas in Broward County, by end of day Nov. 13.
- In Miami-Dade, the area north of SW 8th St. will be essentially restored by end of day Nov. 11. Between SW 8th St. and SW 88th St,, end of day Nov. 10. Miami Beach south of SW 79th St., end of day Nov. 10. All areas south of SW 88th St, end of day Nov. 8.
The great majority of customers in these areas will have power restored well before the estimated dates.
The Wilma restoration team has entered the house-by-house, pole-by-pole phase of restoration -- a very time-intensive period. In many cases, poles or lines have been damaged and require crews to clear debris and repair equipment, often in hard-to-access backyards. Consequently, fewer customers are restored daily than during the earlier phase of restoration when bringing up substations and large main lines could restore services to thousands of customers. To expedite restoration, customers are encouraged to give crews the right of way as they move about the area to restore power and to refrain from stopping crews to ask questions about the restoration process.
