Power Outages Spread Across South Florida
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- South Floridians continue to feel the effects of Hurricane Matthew due to power outages.
As of 7:30 p.m., FPL says there are 8,480 customers without power in Miami-Dade County, 5,010 customers without power in Broward and 6,000 customers without power in Palm Beach County.
FPL anticipates that approximately 1.2 million customers could experience power outages due to this dangerous and damaging storm. Additionally, FPL anticipates that some customers may experience more than one outage throughout the duration of the storm.
A team of 12,000 FPL employees, contractors and out-of-state utility workers -- including 9,000 in the field -- has been assembled to set up 11 main staging sites throughout damaged areas and work to restore power, the electric utility said.
Depending on Matthew's ultimate path and intensity, damage to the electrical infrastructure could be extensive. Flooding, fallen structures, debris and other obstacles could affect the speed of power restoration. Excess vegetation and debris are also anticipated to cause restoration challenges. Following severe weather, FPL crews must cut away trees and other vegetation that have fallen into power lines, or that are in the way, to find and fix damage safely and as quickly as possible. Workers will operate bucket trucks and restore service in between bands of severe weather, as long as winds are below 35 mph and conditions are safe.
FPL advises homeowners to record their account number so they can access their accounts online at FPL.com or call 800-468-8243 to obtain information through the automated system.
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