Line crews restore power for several counties in Duke Energy Florida’s service territory following Hurricane Milton.

After Hurricane Milton hit Florida as a Category 3 storm, Duke Energy Florida conducted damage assessments and began to restore power to the more than 1 million customers without electricity.

“Hurricane Milton barreled through our state with a devastating intensity, leaving behind a trail of destruction that we, and many Floridians, can’t yet fully comprehend,” said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director.

Outages decreased from more than 1 million immediately post-storm to about 580,000 as of 12 p.m. ET Oct. 12 and to about 390,000 on Oct. 13.

“It’s only been a few days since Hurricane Milton tore through the state, leaving behind unimaginable destruction and more than a million of our customers without power,” Fountain says. ”While we’ve already made significant restoration progress in that short time, we will not stop until we get the lights back on for all our customers.”

As of 9 a.m. ET Oct. 14, total storm-related outages decreased from more than 1 million to 105,000. Duke Energy Florida completed power restoration for more than 95% of customers in Brevard, Citrus, Hernando, Highlands, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties post-Hurricane Milton. This means the company met, and in many cases exceeded, that estimated time of restoration.

Most of the customers who remain without power in Pinellas and Pasco counties are expected to be restored by 11:59 p.m. ET Oct. 15.

Keep reading at T&D World

For more on hurricane season and the utility industry, see how Duke Energy is strengthening the grid,  ask yourself if you are making these heat related illness mistakes, and make sure you are stocked up on the must haves for storm season.