Heat may be rising among the millions of Floridians still without power, as 2.3 million homes and businesses head toward finishing a fourth full day without. The latest data from the Florida Office of Emergency Management show 22 percent of the state still was sweating out power outages at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, on what has been the hottest day this week for many, reaching the mid-90s in parts of the Sunshine State.
Airbnb, the nation’s largest vacation rental home marketing business, said Thursday it has 230 host homes mostly in northern Florida offering free stays to Hurricane Irma evacuees and relief workers and now is activating its disaster relief program through more of Florida.
Power outages continue to plague just over one quarter of all the homes and businesses in Florida, though the number fell to almost 2.7 million customers Thursday morning. A 6 a.m. update from the Florida Office of Emergency Management showed that those counties hit first and hardest by Hurricane Irma – Monroe, Collier and Lee – continue to see slow restoration of power. In Monroe, 82 percent of customers woke up without electricity, or 52,000 homes an businesses; in Collier…
For the first time since early Monday morning, power is on for just over half the state of Florida.
Gov. Rick Scott is on his way to Pensacola to better position himself to respond to South Florida quickly once Hurricane Irma passes, reports the Pensacola News Journal. A spokesman for the governor, McKinley Lewis, confirmed Scott was flying to Pensacola, which has one of the few airports in the state still open.
Airbnb, the giant vacation rental home marketing company, announced it is activating a disaster response program to provide free housing to Hurricane Irma evacuees and relief workers.
Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla sent an email to constituents Wednesday afternoon inaccurately advising them they still could arrange to get rid of big bulk items ahead of Hurricane Irma. The email led Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs to issue a sharp retraction and a rebuke charging Bonilla of overstepping her authority and causing potentially serious problems in a time of emergency.
