Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
Ed. Note — As Hurricane Idalia cut through the Gulf Coast and North Florida, Sunburn is again taking one more night off to allow staff to clean up and wait until the power is fully restored. Don’t worry; the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics will be back in your inbox very soon!
Thanks for your support, and — wherever you are — please, stay safe!
First Shot
The Florida Municipal Electric Association says hundreds of power pros are on the ground working to restore power to Floridians who lost electricity during the storm.
FMEA Executive Director Amy Zubaly said Hurricane Idalia impacted more than a third of Florida’s 33 public power utilities and that there were, as of noon Wednesday, about 42,000 public power customers who are without power. As of 11 a.m., public power utilities had restored power to approximately 52,000 customers.
“Prior to Hurricane Idalia’s landfall, the Florida Municipal Electric Association had assembled more than 350 mutual aid resources from nearly 50 public power utilities across 13 states from as far away as Nebraska and Oklahoma to as near as Alabama and Georgia and from within Florida, along with hundreds of contractors and tree crews,” Zubaly said.
“Florida’s public power utilities are committed to fully restoring power to their customers as quickly and safely as possible and will continue to work around the clock until every customer has electric service. We greatly appreciate our network of mutual aid support that will help make this possible and the partnership of the Governor’s Office, Florida Division of Emergency Management, and local emergency operations centers as we work toward recovery.”
FMEA was originally established as the Florida Municipal Utilities Association in 1942 in response to World War II fuel shortages. It now represents the unified interests of 33 public power communities across the state.
Members include utilities that range in size from cities as populous as Jacksonville, Orlando, Lakeland, Tallahassee and Gainesville, to smaller Main Street towns, such as Havana, Wauchula and Bushnell. Combined, FMEA’s member utilities serve more than 3 million residential and business consumers.
Evening Reads
—”Why Hurricane Idalia is so dangerous, explained in 7 maps” via Umair Irfan and Benji Jones
—”Hurricane Idalia unleashes fury on Florida and Georgia, swamping a wide stretch of coast” via Terry Spencer of The Associated Press
—”Florida mobilizes rescue services as Idalia’s eye passes over state; some roads still impassable” via Christian Casale of the Florida Phoenix
—“‘You loot, we shoot’: Ron DeSantis reminds criminals of 2nd Amendment” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—”Some 280,000 in Florida without power as damage surveys begin in Idalia’s wake” via Alex Harris of the Miami Herald
—”‘We should have gotten off the island’: Cedar Key residents survived Idalia’s wrath” via Patricia Mazzei of The New York Times
—”‘The biggest impact area’: This small Florida town was hit hard by Hurricane Idalia” via Bill Kearney of the Orlando Sentinel
—“Misattributed videos, recycled lies and warped fears are fueling unfounded claims about this summer’s natural disasters” via Tiffany Hsu of The New York Times
—“Hurricane Idalia is what happens when you combine a ‘marine heatwave’ with El Niño” via Shirin Ali of Slate
—“The end will come for the cult of MAGA” via Peter Sagal of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“I know this sounds strange, especially (given) the nature of politics today. But you know, I was down there (after) the last major storm. I spent a lot of time with him walking from community to community, making sure he had what he needed to get it done. I think he trusts my judgment and my desire to help, and I trust him to be able to suggest that this is not about politics. It’s about taking care of the people of the state.”
— President Joe Biden, on his working relationship with Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Bill Day’s latest
Breakthrough Insights
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
