A large percentage of residents in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, DeSoto and Sarasota counties have already lost power even though Ian has not made landfall.

In addition, over 10,000 residents in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and Broward have lost power at some point in the last 18 hours. Outages are increasing in the Tampa Bay area as winds and outer bands push into the area.

My understanding, is that some of the Dade and Broward residents who lost power last night or this morning have been restored as the weather has calmed in southeast Florida temporarily. In the Tampa Bay area, restorations are unlikely until their is a break in the weather.

As the storm makes landfall and lingers over the peninsula, not only will outages increase exponentially, but restoration efforts are likely to be hindered because of the slow-movement projected for Ian and the diagonal path it will take, which will mean impacts will be felt from the Upper Keys all the way through the Georgia line on Thursday, and on Friday, areas from Daytona Beach northward may still have impacts from what will then be a weaker system.