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Florida swelters and asks: When will power and AC be back?

Lisa Borruso plays pool using a headlamp as the power remains out following Hurricane Irma at Gators' Crossroads in Naples, Fla., Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. Statewide, an estimated 13 million people, or two-thirds of Florida's population, remained without power. That's more than the population of New York and Los Angeles combined. Officials warned it could take weeks for electricity to be restored to everyone. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Lisa Borruso plays pool using a headlamp as the power remains out following Hurricane Irma at Gators' Crossroads in Naples, Fla., Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. Statewide, an estimated 13 million people, or two-thirds of Florida's population, remained without power. That's more than the population of New York and Los Angeles combined. Officials warned it could take weeks for electricity to be restored to everyone. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

By Associated Press September 13, 2017 1 min read

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – In a state built on air conditioning, millions of Florida residents now want to know one thing: When will the power – and the air conditioning – be back on?

Hurricane Irma’s march across Florida and into the Southeast triggered one of the bigger blackouts in U.S. history, plunging as many as 13 million people into the dark as the storm dragged down power lines and blew out transformers. It also shattered the climate-controlled bubbles that enable people to live in Florida’s high heat and humidity.

Those who evacuated are returning to homes without electricity. Now they face the prospect of days or even weeks with little to ease the late-summer stickiness.

Says Florida Gov. Rick Scott: “Power, power, power. The biggest thing we’ve got to do for people is get their power back.”