TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — Crews are making "steady" progress power restoration, and 24 parks have reopened after Hurricane Isaias made landfall Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost power in the wake of the storm, and 430,000 customers remained without power Saturday morning. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 200,000 customers had power restored, DeSantis said.
FLP is expected to be largely finished with power restoration efforts by Monday. CHELCO, which had about 46,000 customers without power as of the press conference, is targeting to have power restored by Tuesday, DeSantis said.
"I know it’s frustrating to lose power and some of you have been without it for a couple of days now... Be assured we’re working around the clock to recover from this devastating hurricane," CHELCO CEO Steve Rhodes said.
DeSantis held the press conference Sunday evening from Grayton Beach State Park in Santa Rosa Beach. The state park was closed after a bridge washout, but DeSantis said the park was expected to reopen Sunday night after substantial recovery efforts.
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The bridge was "totally washed out" after the storm, and FDOT reported the 50-foot-long and 15-foot-deep washout was cutting off access and could "potentially cause harm to the to the beloved Western Lake here in Grayton Beach," DeSantis said.
Recovery efforts at the Walton County park involved crews working overnight and bringing in 600 cubic yards of sand to restore the bridge in less than 18 hours, DeSantis said.
DeSantis said the storm caused widespread damage across Northwest Florida. That damage came primarily from falling trees, debris and other wind damage, as opposed to storm surge, he said.
The state plans to submit a major disaster declaration to the federal government, DeSantis said.
"There's a certain damage threshold that has to be reached," he said. "I think clearly, just given the amount of trees that fell down on different things, there's going to be more than enough."
The disaster declaration, which must be approved by the president, "provides a wide range of federal assistance programs for individuals and public infrastructure, including funds for both emergency and permanent work," according to FEMA.
Isaias made landfall in the panhandle Friday night as a Category 2 hurricane.
Gov. DeSantis has confirmed there were two storm-related deaths in Escambia County.
Some of the hardest-hit counties included Santa Rosa County, where about 90% of customers were without power, Holmes County at 89%, Washington County at 86%, Walton County at 85%, Escambia County at 75% and Okaloosa County at 53%, according to the governor.
Despite the storm's impacts, state emergency officials said Saturday they had not received any requests for large-scale search and rescue deployments.
RELATED LINKS:
- Who to contact during power outages
- Leon County deputies deploy to Santa Rosa Co.
- Firefighters battle house fire amid Hurricane Isaias
- Wakulla County escapes major damage
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