While some Floridians are still without power more than a week after Hurricane Irma slammed into the state, South Florida is close to being back on the grid.
As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Broward County still had 280 without power as officials say they hope to have it restored by the end of the day. In Miami-Dade, the number dropped to just under 1,800.
The state's emergency management division reported Monday that more than 407,000 homes and businesses are still without electricity. That's nearly 4 percent of all utility accounts in the state.
Large numbers of people in the badly-damaged Florida Keys as well as those in southwest Florida are still in the dark. Nearly 30 percent of homes and businesses in both Collier and Monroe counties remain without power.
Florida Power & Light, the state's largest utility, said it will take until Friday to restore electricity to most homes in southwest Florida.
Despite the frustrations, experts in the electric industry and utility officials point out that improvements made since Hurricane Wilma hit 12 years ago have meant people waiting less time for their lights to come back on.
Only 25 percent of Florida Power & Light's customers had power restored within two days of Wilma. This time, company officials said more than 50 percent of customers had power within 48 hours of Irma.
