• Repair crews to restore power to most remaining impacted customers by tonight; many will be restored sooner
• As of noon, more than 287,000 customers restored in 12 hours
• Workforce of 5,000 helped speed restoration efforts

Duke Energy Florida says it is on track to restore nearly all customers who lost power during Tropical Storm Nicole by 10 p.m. tonight.

The company announced on Friday that it has restored power to 98% of impacted customers within 12 hours of Nicole leaving the company’s service territory.

As of noon, Duke Energy Florida has restored power to more than 287,000 customers, with less than 5,000 customers without power due to the storm.

“While we did not anticipate a hurricane so late in the season, our team didn’t hesitate to respond and support our customers,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “Nicole impacted a large portion of our territory and the incredible team effort helped us restore more than 287,000 customers within 12 hours and we will not stop until every customer is restored.”

According to a news release, power is expected to be restored to 90% of Duke Energy Florida customers in the following counties by 10 p.m. tonight: Alachua, Columbia, Marion, Sumter, Suwannee and Taylor.

Power is also expected to be restored to the remaining Duke Energy Florida customers in the following counties by 3 p.m. today: Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Seminole and Volusia.

With power restoration efforts nearing the finish line, the company says it will move a greater concentration of crews in the areas still in need of repair.

Prior to the storm making landfall, Duke Energy Florida staged more than 5,000 workers in strategic locations throughout the state to respond.

“This storm impacted every area in our service territory, but we were ready,” said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida’s storm director. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we work to safely restore everyone’s service as soon as possible.”

Making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, Nicole was the first November hurricane to make landfall in Florida since 1985. Nicole exited Florida around 11 p.m. Thursday.