Massive Efforts to Restore Power Underway in Florida, 42,000 Linemen Responding 122 A broken utility pole on a flooded street following Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, US, on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Hurricane Ian, one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the US, weakened to a tropical storm but continues to dump rain on the state as it makes its way …Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images HANNAH BLEAU30 Sep 2022189 1:28 Massive efforts are underway to restore power in the Sunshine State in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, with tens of thousands of linemen responding to the millions without power.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and emergency officials said before the arrival of the storm that 42,000 linemen were ready to respond to the anticipated power outages across the state:

#HurricaneIan is making landfall now. Florida is ready to respond. We have fleets of highwater vehicles, 42,000 linemen, 7,000 National Guardsmen and 179 aircraft prepared to help.

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 28, 2022

Florida has more than 42,000 linemen already staged for power restoration efforts across the state. Thank you for being prepared to power up our state.

For updates on #HurricaneIan follow @FLSERT. pic.twitter.com/7QO8UEALbE

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 28, 2022

This is incredible… 42,000+ linemen are on standby and ready to go in Florida.

God Bless these heroes. 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/ItpbdMQONK

— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) September 29, 2022

According to the PowerOutage.us tracker, 1.9 million customers are without power in Florida, but that is down from the over 2 million reported Thursday.

DeSantis said during Friday’s press conference that they are largely prioritizing” getting power and running potable water to the rest of the area’s healthcare facilities,” particularly in the southwest.

“There have been 117 facilities that had lost power that now have power restored,” he said.

WATCH:

The storm exited the northeastern portion of the state on Thursday after weakening to a Tropical Storm, only to strengthen back to a hurricane again as it angles for South Carolina’s coast, bringing life-threatening storm surge and torrential downpours.

11 am EDT 9/30 – #Ian is accelerating toward the South Carolina coast with life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds expected soon. Here are the key messages for the hurricane. You can view the latest advisory at https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/WawAl84AxT

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 30, 2022

Several images show the damage the storm inflicted across the state. Some of the most stunning images come from Fort Myers Beach in Lee County, which DeSantis said Thursday is essentially “off the grid,” along with Charlotte County.

I got an aerial tour of Fort Myers beach. Most of it will need to be completely rebuilt. pic.twitter.com/9WgZJdXnfm

— Jared Moskowitz (@JaredEMoskowitz) September 29, 2022

Fort Myers Beach, before and after Hurricane Ian.

📷: @JulieMartinTV and Google Earth pic.twitter.com/V8Uh7YUVdg

— Drew (@DrewMacFarlane) September 29, 2022

DEVASTATING. I was one of the few people that made it onto Fort Myers Beach this morning before it was shutdown. I have no words. @CBSMiami pic.twitter.com/taeQ8tz1al

— Nicole Lauren (@NLaurenTV) September 29, 2022

Before and after of the Fort Myers Beach Pier pic.twitter.com/rT6zWXjQR4

— Sean Breslin (@Sean_Breslin) September 29, 2022