FPL Completes Restoration to 97% of Customers Affected by Hurricane Rita

Working in between feeder bands of heavy rains and squalls, Florida Power & Light Company crews have restored service to 122,600 customers in South Florida affected by Hurricane Rita. At 8 p.m. Tuesday, 3400 customers remained without power; about 2400 in Miami-Dade County and 1000 in Broward. FPL expected to essentially complete restoration to all customers by Wednesday night with most of those still out of service receiving power before then. A total of 126,000 customers have been affected by the hurricane, with 97% of those restored within 24 hours.

Nearly 5000 repair workers and support personnel have been involved in the restoration effort, including more than 1800 line crews and almost 900 tree trimming personnel. The company deployed its own crews and contractors from other parts of the state to its service centers in South Florida to restore power as additional out-of-state utility workers are tied up repairing the devastation left behind by Hurricanes Katrina and Ophelia. FPL already had received requests to send repair crews to assist utilities in Texas and plans on doing so following completion of the restoration in South Florida.