Utilities make progress on power restoration as Hurricane Isaias recovery continues

A resident of a storm damaged apartment complex unloads his shovel on a pile of trash while cleaning out his apartment in Pensacola Beach several days after the landfall of Hurricane Isaias on October 11, 2026. (Dan Anderson for Alabama Reflector)Some 120,000 power customers were still waiting for power restoration in Florida as of Monday afternoon, three days after Hurricane Isaias hit the Florida Panhandle, as momentum gathered behind the state’s disaster recovery. “We now have essentially full restoration in Bay County, Okaloosa is over 96% restored, and Washington County s over 91% were restored,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference outside a Walmart in Pensacola.. “Walton County is now up to 80% restored, remaining customers are expected to have power tonight into early tomorrow, and the Chelco (the Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative), who s the provider there, they ve confirmed that the schools in Walton, all of them, are hooked up and they re back,” he said as res