Power update: 2.3 million homes and businesses still without

Heat may be rising among the millions of Floridians still without power, as 2.3 million homes and businesses head toward finishing a fourth full day without.

The latest data from the Florida Office of Emergency Management show 22 percent of the state still was sweating out power outages at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, on what has been the hottest day this week for many, reaching the mid-90s in parts of the Sunshine State.

In Collier County 159,000 electricity customers – homes and businesses – still were without power, or 65 percent of the county. In Lee County, 270,000 customers were without, or 62 percent. And in the Florida Keys, Monroe County still has no power for 73 percent, or 46,000 customers.

In Miami-Dade County the number of customers without power just barely slipped below 300,000, less than half of what the county had on Tuesday. Yet that’s still 26 percent. In Broward County, 22 percent were without, or 201,000 customers. In Palm Beach County, 21 percent were without power, 164,000 homes and businesses.

In Tampa Bay, Pinellas County’s number of electricity-free homes and businesses continued to fall quickly, as power has been restored to all but 21 percent, about 116,000. That’s less than a third of powerless customers on Tuesday. In Hillsborough County, 12 percent were without power, or 78,000. Likewise in Pasco, where 15 percent, or 40,000 homes and businesses, were without power. In Manatee County, 42,000, or 20 percent, were without.

In Central Florida, 15 percent, or 84,000 customers were without power in Orange County; 30 percent, or 94,000, in Brevard County; 25 percent, or 71,000, in Volusia County; 21 percent, or 43,000, in Seminole County; 15 percent, or 21,000 in Lake County; and just 5 percent, 7,000 customers, in Osceola County.

In the Jacksonville area, 14 percent, or 51,000 customers, were without power at 3:30 p.m. in Duval County; 22 percent, or 28,000, in St. John’s County; and 15 percent, or 14,000, in Clay County.