Nearly half of Florida could be without electricity after Hurricane Irma

As ferocious Hurricane Irma barrels toward South Florida packing winds of greater than 150 mph, Florida Power & Light officials estimate nearly half of the state's 20 million residents could lose power in the category 4 storm's wake.

But the company, which serves five million accounts representing 10 million people in 35 counties, says it is well-prepared to restore power and rebuild the infrastructure it predicts Irma will demolish. 

FPL estimates 4.1 million of its accounts representing 9 million people will experience outages based on the storm's forecast track, speed and recorded wind gusts of 200 mph, company representatives said Friday.

Tick-tock

It's going to take time, though, to restore power, officials cautioned Friday. Possibly weeks or more in some cases, officials said. Customers who occupy homes or businesses too severely damaged to safely receive power will wait the longest.

"This is a massive storm that we just haven't seen the likes of, not just in Florida, but in the United States," FPL president and CEO Eric Silagy said Friday.

"We will not stop until the lights are back on for every customer," Silagy added, imploring customers to be patient and prepared to go without power for days or even weeks. 

A small army

The company plans to deploy 13,500 utility workers from 29 different states to begin restoration efforts once conditions are safe. 

The workers, employed by other utilities companies throughout the U.S., can begin restoration work once winds drop to 35 mph and flood waters recede. It could be a full day before that happens, Silagy said.

Irma is predicted to plow through South Florida sometime late this weekend and travel up Florida, affecting nearly the entire state. 

Most of the 13,500 workers are already in place at more than 20 staging sites and are ready for deployment, Rob Gould, FPL vice president and chief communications officer said Friday.

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Crews, trucks and equipment are stationed at each site where they receive work orders and regular safety briefings.

"It's a mini-city, if you will," Gould said of the staging areas.

Thousands of crews finished preparations ahead of Irma, which included vegetation trimming, fueling up trucks and establishing a communication plan, should there be a disruption to cellular service.

An in-house meteorologist and weather team has been vital in predicting outages and planning restoration efforts, Gould said.

"He and his team are huge in helping us understand and translate where the storm's going," Gould said. "We still look at the other forecast services, but he interprets what we're looking at and it helps us in staging our people and equipment." 

Restoration efforts

After the storm, it's FPL's priority to power on nuclear sites, if they were proactively shut down, and restore power to grids with critical infrastructure such as law enforcement agencies, fire stations and hospitals. Next in line are main grids with commercial properties such as grocery stores and then neighborhoods, according to the company's website.

"The grid does not know rich neighborhoods from poor neighborhoods. It doesn't know the demographics," Gould said. "It's a grid that serves customers and what we try to do is get the most amount of customers back on as quickly as possible."

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Wipe out

FPL expects Irma's powerful winds and potential flooding to wipe out parts of its infrastructure, snap concrete poles and bend metal ones. While trying to restore power to as many customers as possible, crews also will begin rebuilding the infrastructure, which could take weeks.

Rebuilding entails replacing hundreds of down poles, substations and parts of the electrical system, Gould said.

It's still too early to estimate the cost of repairing and rebuilding FPL's infrastructure, Gould said.

The number of customers predicted to lose power shatters a record once held by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, which blacked out power to 3.2 million customers.

Major upgrades

Since Wilma, FPL spent nearly $3 billion strengthening its system. Upgrades included clearing vegetation from more than 150,000 miles of power lines, strengthening nearly 860 main power lines and placing more than 450 main power lines underground.

The company inspects its 1.2 million power poles every eight years and upgrades or replaces those that no longer meet the company's standards for strength. The strongest concrete poles are made to withstand 145 mph winds, Gould said.

Irma is churning toward the state with 150 mph winds.

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FPL also installed nearly 5 million smart meters and 83,000 intelligent devices to help predict, reduce and prevent power outages and restore power faster if outages occur.

"The investments we have made in recent years have placed FPL in the best possible position to restore power to our customers faster following a storm," Silagy said.

Despite the upgrades, no system in the country can withstand Irma's predicted wrath, Gould said.

About 60 percent of FPL's system is above ground and 40 percent is below ground. Flying debris can take out power lines and severe flooding can affect the underground system, company representatives said.

"It's just impractical to think that you're going to hurricane-proof a system," Gould said.

To prevent major damage to its power system during the storm, FPL as a last resort might cut off power to some customers. If substations aren't proactively shut off, they could explode when flooded, Silagy said.

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Going nuclear 

FPL's two nuclear plants — St. Lucie and Turkey Point — will shut down 24 hours before winds are foretasted to reach Category 1 strength, or 74 to 95 mph. The company's southern nuclear plant, Turkey Point near Homestead, took a direct hit from category 5 Hurricane Andrew 25 years ago and sustained no damage, Silagy said.

Additionally, the St. Lucie plant on Hutchinson Island endured two direct hits weeks apart in 2004 from hurricanes Frances and Jeanne and sustained no damage, Gould said.

Company officials said shutting down their nuclear plants will not impact their ability to provide electricity before Irma strikes.