Florida hopes to restore power to Panhandle by early November

Many homes and businesses in the Florida Panhandle remain too damaged to receive utility service, but those that can should have power back by the first of November, Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday. That’s roughly a month after Hurricane Michael roared across the Southeast, devastating parts of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama and causing widespread damage in the Carolinas and Virginia. A governor’s office news release said fewer than 47,700 accounts remained without power in Florida, down from more than 400,000 immediately after the hurricane. The overall death toll from Michael rose to 39 earlier this week as Florida reported four more fatalities in Bay County, where the hurricane made landfall in the town of Mexico Beach.