Millions of residents and businesses across Florida remain without power, days after Hurricane Irma struck a menacing blow. And those left without air conditioning, lights, use of their refrigerator and more are imploring: ‘Where is my electricity?’ It’s a true real estate conundrum.
As of noon on Thursday, more than 2.5 million Florida homes and businesses with electric accounts remained without power, according to Gov. Rick Scott.
In South Florida, 4.4 million customers were impacted by the storm, and power has been restored to more than 3 million so far. FPL expects restoration to be completed in South Florida by Sunday night.
Some local hotels are starting to reopen, aiming to lure downtrodden South Floridians as well as other guests. Several Miami Beach hotels are even offering discounts, with room rates of $99 per night or less for city residents.
A total of 6.7 million customers suffered power outages across the state, a peak that was reached on Monday. Since then, power has been restored to more than 4.2 million accounts. More than 30,000 electricity restoration workers have been on the scene, the largest power restoration undertaking in history for a single state, Scott said in a release.
Overall, Hurricane Irma may have caused up to $40 billion worth of insured industry losses in the United States, according to an estimate from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide.
The storm destroyed roughly 25 percent of homes in the Florida Keys, left streets in downtown Miami flooded with water and caused multiple crane collapses. Related Companies chairman and Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross has pledged $1 million to help with the recovery effort.