Search-and-rescue teams made their way into the Florida Keys’ farthest reaches today, while crews labored to repair the single washed-out highway connecting the islands and rush aid to Hurricane Irma’s victims. Federal officials estimate one-quarter of all homes in the Keys were destroyed.
Residents were allowed to return to the parts of the Keys closest to Florida’s mainland. But the full extent of the damage is unknown because communications and access remain cut off.
The assessment of damage is constantly changing.
Preliminary estimates suggests that in addition to the destroyed dwellings, 65% of homes in the Keys sustained major damage, Brock Long, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, says. Â “Basically every house in the Keys was impacted,” he says.
Statewide, as many as 13 million people—two-thirds of Florida’s population—were without electricity in the tropical heat, and officials warned it could take 10 days or more for power to be fully restored. About 110,000 remained in shelters across Florida.
