Staff Reports
As the Tampa Bay region begins feeling the early effects of Hurricane Ian, thousands of power outages are already being reported.
Duke Energy is reporting about 169,000 outages in and around Pinellas County, as of 8:30 a.m.
Outages are most widespread in south county and coastal areas, however people are without power in almost every area of the county. Some areas were spared, including minimal outages in inland central Pinellas, Feather Sound and north Pinellas.
Duke Energy notes on its website that “tropical storm-force winds and heavy rains continue through most of the day, Thursday. Crews will begin damage assessment and repairs as conditions allow.” They did not provide specific expectations for restoration.
TECO had more than 291,000 customers without power as of 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
TECO noted on its website Wednesday that, because winds exceeded 40 miles per hour, crews were sheltering for their safety. By Thursday morning, TECO’s warning was more optimistic for those without power.
“Rest assured we are aware of all reported outages, and between our TECO team and multiple out-of-state utilities, we have assembled thousands of crew members eager to restore your power as quickly and safely as possible. They will start work this morning, as soon as it is safe to do so,” the notice said.
While restoration efforts are likely to be underway soon, it will likely take days to get everyone back on the grid, and some may yet still lose power as residual rain and wind affect already battered systems.
The storm has been downgraded to a tropical storm and is currently located 40 miles southeast of Orlando and 10 miles west of Cape Canaveral. It is expected to exit Florida on the Atlantic coast, largely sparing northeast Florida.
On Thursday, meteorologist Denis Phillips cautioned, “regardless of track, widespread power outages expected today.”
5 comments
Tjb
September 28, 2022 at 10:06 am
Governor DeSantis,
Hurricane heading toward my home. I can’t get property insurance. Need help now. One company offer me insurance at double what I paid last year, but as yesterday they dropped out of the Florida market. Help me Ron
Not an idiot
September 28, 2022 at 1:17 pm
You’re an idiot. You can’t get property insurance during a storm state of emergency. Because if they allowed that, everyone would scramble and get Insurance at the last minute. Insurance companies don’t allow that and have NEVER allowed that. Get insurance before a storm and keep it if you want it during an event like this. Also, what do you think Ron Desantis is going to do about it? Absolutely nothing. Be responsible for your own property. No one else cares.
Tom
September 28, 2022 at 10:20 am
Head to southwest Florida now ..for some of the best fishing of the year. Today and tonight…world record fish can be caught about 20 miles out. Hundreds are out as we speak. Don’t let the fake news media rob you of the chance to break the world record. Once you get out about ten miles from the shore it’s fine.
Joe Corsin
September 28, 2022 at 1:10 pm
Governor DeSantis said to shelter in place so I’m here at home on the southern most tip of Puta Gorda eating lunch. I trust everything will be fine.
Brandon
September 28, 2022 at 2:38 pm
They should use gender neutral names for these hurricanes. Also, is Ian him, her, he, or she?
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