With the weather threatening more devastation, the state of Florida has surpassed 160,000 customers without power, according to PowerOutage.
Collier County, which includes Naples and Marco Island, is the most affected with more than 41,000 customers out of power, according to the site.
The site also reports that Lee County, home to Fort Myers and Cape Coral, now has more than 38,000 customer power outages.
In another development, The National Weather Service in Tampa has advised residents not to go near the beach, though water appears to be receding.
“The water WILL come back,” the weather service said.
Water can recede when strong winds on the left side of the center of the storm push water out away from shore, according to CNN meteorologist Judson Jones.
The National Weather Service says almost half of all deaths from tropical cyclones come from storm surge.
“A storm surge is a rise in water level caused by a strong storm’s wind pushing water on-shore,” according to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. “The wind literally piles up the ocean water and pushes it on the land.”
CNN
