Helene smashed through the Big Bend area overnight as a massive Category 4 hurricane and sent bands of rain and high wind across the state.
As of 9 a.m., Marion County, the area county most affected, had about 41,000 customers out, according to poweroutage.us.
Lake County had about 6,700 without power, Orange 8,700, and Volusia more than 10,500 without electricity
Statewide, 1.1 million customers were without power.
Duke Energy Florida reported 8,000 workers were restoring power Friday morning.
“Our crews worked through the night to assess the immense damage caused by Hurricane Helene and get the lights back on where conditions allowed,” said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director. “We’ve made significant progress over the last 24 hours, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We thank our customers for their patience, support and ongoing commitment to safety.”
The energy company provided these safety tips for customers after the storm:
- Stay away from downed power lines and areas that may be hiding lines, such as floodwater and debris.
- Look for damage that may prevent your power from being restored and have a licensed electrician make repairs if needed.
- Disconnect or turn off any nonessential electrical equipment that may start automatically when power is restored to avoid overloading circuits.
- Only operate a generator outside and connect appliances directly to it.
- Do not wire your generator directly to your breaker fuse box, as it could backfeed on power lines.
- If you use a (house) generator, please watch for utility crews and turn the generator off when crews are in your area. The electrical load on the power lines can be hazardous for crews making repairs.
