Irma-battered residents return
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. - Virtually all East Coast customers of the state’s biggest provider of electricity should have power restored by Sunday, and western customers will be fully up and running a few days later, Florida Power & Light said Tuesday.
Company spokesman Rob Gould said a preliminary assessment of Hurricane Irma’s devastation indicated damage to the electrical infrastructure was not as extensive as expected. That included the western coast, which took a direct hit.
“What we’re seeing is encouraging, particularly on the west coast, where our main transmission structures have not come down,” said Gould, whose company serves about half the state’s 10.5 million power accounts. He said there would be a few exceptions where damage was particularly severe.
About half of the state’s 21 million residents were without power Tuesday. Gov. Rick Scott said more than 30,000 out-of-state utility workers were aiding the effort to turn lights on across the state.
The White House said President Trump would visit Florida Thursday.
Irma smashed into Florida on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane with 130-mph winds. The storm brought havoc to Georgia and South Carolina as well. Irma was blamed for more than a dozen deaths in the region, including at least seven in Florida. At least 35 people were killed in the Caribbean last week.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said Tuesday that Irma victims who receive food stamps can use them for hot foods, normally a violation of the program’s rules. It also is directing Florida and Georgia to issue food stamps more quickly this month.
Irma first made landfall on the Florida Keys, then again later Sunday on Marco Island on the state’s Gulf Coast. The storm roared north, flooding streets, toppling trees and power lines and snapping construction cranes across most of the state.
Scott said all the state’s highway and turnpikes were open, and a massive effort was underway to get gas to service stations. Many roads were backed up for miles as residents made the pilgrimage back to their homes.
Authorities in the Florida Keys on Tuesday began allowing residents and workers to return to the upper islands in the chain — Key Largo, Tavernier and Islamorada. The sun was shining and the sky was blue, but the damage to the islands, particularly the lower islands, was catastrophic.
FEMA Administrator Brock Long said the agency was inspecting bridges to the lower Keys to ensure they were safe. He said about 25% of homes on the Keys were destroyed and another twothirds were damaged.
“Basically, every house on the Keys was impacted,” Long said.
In Central Florida, Walt Disney World opened for business in Orlando — and the Magic Kingdom appeared untouched. Paola Pedroso, 28, traveled from Brazil with her bridal party. They stayed at a hotel near Universal Studios through the worst of the storm.