84,000 power outages, 73,700 meals handed out. Hurricane Idalia Day 3, by the numbers
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"We're now at 400, I think almost 480,000 accounts have been restored to power since the storm hit," Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday afternoon at a press conference in Live Oak as he provided updates on recovery efforts after Hurricane Idalia. "The outstanding without power is approximately 84,000, and that's heavily concentrated with some of the electrical cooperatives.
"Duke Energy has put forward its schedule to be able to get all of its customers in the hard-hit counties back online. You're gonna see a lot today, tomorrow, and then by Sunday night. Then we have all these other linemen who are here, that can help."
Here are the numbers on the third day of Hurricane Idalia:
Power outages
84,000 power outages in Florida as of Friday afternoon.
480,000 customers have had power restored since the storm.
Up to 565,000 utility customers had lost electricity at some point during and/or after the storm passed, DeSantis said Wednesday.
95% of Duke customers in Alachua, Dixie, Gilchrist, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy and Suwanee should be restored by Friday night.
95% of Taylor and Columbia Duke customers should be restored by Saturday night.
95% of Hamilton and Madison Duke customers should be restored by Sunday night.
Hurricane Idalia power outages: What's still safe to eat and what should be thrown out?
Meal distribution
9 pods (Points of Distribution) are open for residents who need food:
Hamilton County
North Hamilton Elementary School
1291 Florida Street Jennings, Florida 32053
The Ernest Courtoy Civic Center
1129 4th Street Northwest Jasper, Florida 32052
Jefferson County
325 S Water Street Monticello, Florida 32344
Lafayette County
Lafayette High School
160 NE Hornet Drive Mayo, Florida 32066
Madison County
Madison County High School
2649 US 90 Madison, FL 32340
Suwannee County
Suwannee County Fair
1302 SW 11th Street Live Oak, Florida 32064
Suwannee Riverside Elementary
1625 Walker Avenue SW Live Oak, Florida 32064
Branford High School
405 North Reynolds Street Branford, Florida 32008
Taylor County
West-Fraser Perry Mill
1509 S Byron Street Parkway Perry, Florida 32348
5 of the pods opened yesterday, within 36 hours of Idalia's landfall.
More than 2,100 vehicles visited the pods yesterday.
48,000 liters of water were distributed.
73,700 MREs (meals ready to eat) were handed out.
Big box stores such as Walmart, Public, Winn-Dixie and Lowes in affected areas will be open, the governor said, on generator power if necessary. The Walmart in Perry will be offering a one-stop shop for people who need food, supplies, showers and charging stations.
Search and rescue
15 counties have had their search and rescue operations finalized.
3 counties — Suwannee, Madison, Lafayette — have continuing efforts.
Disaster declaration
7 counties included in President Biden's major disaster declaration so far: Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, and Taylor.
"We will be requesting additional counties be added to that major disaster declaration today," said Kevin Guthrie, Executive Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
5 travel trailers are moving into Horseshow Beach today, Guthrie said. "It took months for us to get to that point after Hurricane Ian and I'm happy to announce that within 48 hours we're going to have travel trailers in that area for Horseshoe Beach, which was one of the most impacted."
27 four-person crews spent 12 hours to clear 10,000 downed trees along a 15-mile stretch of Interstate 10 in Madison County, the Florida Department of Transportation said.
1,000 Big Bend and North Florida bridges are back in service.
Schools
58 out of 67 school districts are open, according to Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, and that number should grow over the weekend.
10 of the 12 state universities are open.
26 of the 28 state colleges are open.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Hurricane Idalia: Nearly 100,000 still without power in Florida
