Many in Florida Panhandle Still Without Power

12 Deaths Occured in Bay County

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) – Six days after Hurricane Michael ripped through the Florida Panhandle, nearly 137,000 customers remain without power in an 11-county region that stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Georgia border.

Michael slammed into the region on Oct. 10 and in the immediate aftermath as many as 400,000 customers in the state were without electricity.

Nearly a week later, most people living in small rural counties near the border still do not have power, according to information compiled by state emergency management officials.

Several power companies have told the state that it will take at least another five days before the lights are back on in some of the communities raked by the deadly storm.

Officials say 16 people died in Florida because of Hurricane Michael, doubling the numbers of deaths in the state The Associated Press had previously attributed to last week’s storm.

Florida officials announced the state’s updated death toll Tuesday.

State officials did not provide details of how the victims’ deaths were storm-related and the AP was not immediately able to confirm those details.

Officials say 12 of the deaths occurred in Bay County, a seaside county which took a direct hit from the storm.

The AP’s tally also includes 10 deaths in Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina.