Most electricity flow restored after nearly two thirds of Florida knocked out by Irma

In a massive blow to the state’s electric infrastructure, the Florida Division of Emergency Management now reports that, when Hurricane Irma struck, 64 percent of all electricity customers were left without power.

Those numbers have since turned around. Whereas 6.7 million were left in the dark beginning Sept. 10, 2017, when the storm made landfall, only 100,000 remained without power as of Sept. 19. At the time, the storm had also cut power to 1.3 million in Georgia and nearly 500,000 across other states, but those cases have almost all been resolved, according to official reports.

The damage had peaked on Sept. 11, and while Irma was comparable to a 2005 hurricane named Wilma, the FDEM reported its damage to the electric grid was much more extensive. That said, recovery from Wilma had taken longer. Largely due to improvements Florida Power & Light and other utilities have made to their preparedness efforts since then, in the wake of Irma the state was able to restore power from 64 percent loss to 18 percent loss within 5 days.

Credited improvements have included smart grid upgrades and the replacement of classic, wooden utility poles with concrete ones.