Florida’s largest power company, Duke Energy, is urging caution to residents as they clean up debris left by Hurricane Milton. The company warns that live power lines could be concealed beneath the rubble, posing a serious safety risk.
Melissa Seixas, Florida president of Duke Energy, emphasized the importance of avoiding debris where overhead wires may be present. She explained that these power lines may not exhibit typical warning signs like sparking or hissing, making them a silent but deadly hazard for untrained individuals.
As of 8:30 a.m. Friday, nearly 900,000 of Duke Energy’s 2 million Florida customers were still without power. Seixas stated that damage assessments are ongoing, with plans to release a restoration timetable later in the day to provide affected areas with an estimate of when electric service will be restored.
Pinellas County, including St. Petersburg, is experiencing the most significant outage for Duke Energy, with over 80 percent of customers currently without power. The company is working diligently to address the widespread outages and restore electricity to impacted communities.
