Hurricane outages in Florida often extend well beyond 24 hours, making multi-day planning essential.
Hurricane-Driven Outage Risk
Florida Power & Light, the largest electric utility in the state, has spent nearly two decades hardening its grid against hurricanes. That investment showed during Hurricane Ian in 2022: FPL restored power to over 2.1 million affected customers within eight days of the storm exiting the state, losing zero transmission structures in the process. But statewide averages mask severe local variation.
In Lee County, where Ian made landfall, the Lee County Electric Cooperative needed 29 days to restore all customers who could receive service. Barrier islands like Sanibel and Pine Island were physically cut off after the causeway was severed, and line crews could not reach Pine Island until a temporary bridge was built days later. At the peak of outages on September 29, roughly 2.7 million Florida customers across all utilities had no power simultaneously.
This utility-type gap is the core sizing challenge. Customers on large investor-owned grids can reasonably plan for outages measured in days. Customers served by smaller cooperatives in storm-surge zones should plan for multi-week disruptions and treat solar recharge as essential rather than optional.
Major disaster declaration covering all 67 Florida counties for catastrophic hurricane damage and flooding.
Source: FEMA DR-4673Federal disaster declaration for a major hurricane causing widespread multi-day power outages across the state.
Source: FEMA DR-4337NRI composite score of 95.3 places Florida among the highest-risk states in the country for natural hazards.
For Florida storm prep, model a 72-hour scenario and include a solar recharge path.
Critical loads to sustain a household through a multi-day hurricane outage: refrigeration, medical, communications, and air circulation.
Load
421W
Target
72h
Minimum
49,900 Wh
Solar recharge is essential at this duration. Use the solar charge time tool to match panel output to your station.
Size this scenario in calculatorExtended coverage for the restoration phase after the storm passes, adding work-from-home capability.
Load
725W
Target
120h
Minimum
143,000 Wh
Requires expandable battery system or aggressive load rotation with solar top-up.
Size this scenario in calculatorCritical Note: No single portable power station in our database covers the full 72-hour baseline at this load (6,144 Wh max). Use solar recharge, load rotation, or expandable systems for longer events.
Focusing on a one-day runtime when hurricane outages often extend well beyond 24 hours.
Ignoring refrigeration and medical loads that need continuous support during storm recovery.
Waiting to buy backup power after a warning, when inventory and logistics are already constrained.
Average hurricane outage lasts 3-7 days. Here's exactly what to run, how much battery you need, and which power stations handle a fridge + phone + fan.
For home backup, you need surge capacity for fridge compressors and enough Wh for multi-day outages. Here are the best options from our database of 33 stations.
From CPAP to oxygen concentrators, here is a practical checklist for keeping medical equipment running during power outages. Includes sizing math and emergency contacts.
Composite score: 95.3 / 100
Rating: Relatively High
Top modeled hazards: Hurricane, Lightning, Riverine Flooding
Hurricane score: 98.2
Winter Weather score: 3.7
Wildfire score: 92.8
Total (2014-2023): 42
Most recent: 2023-08-31 Hurricane
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Hurricane | 23 |
| Fire | 8 |
| Biological | 4 |
| Tropical Storm | 3 |
| Severe Storm | 2 |
| Flood | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
Required Wh = (Total Load W × Target Hours / Inverter Derate) × Safety Factor
Inverter derate: 0.70 (30% real-world loss)
Safety factor: 1.15
Rounding: Up to nearest 100 Wh
Florida has an NRI composite risk score of 95.3 (Relatively High), with 42 federal declarations from 2014 to 2023. NRI composite score of 95.3 places Florida among the highest-risk states in the country for natural hazards.
For the primary scenario on this page (72-hour storm shelter), the estimated minimum is 49,900 Wh for a 72-hour target. Refine this in the calculator with your actual devices.
NRI is a modeled risk index based on hazard exposure, vulnerability, and expected loss. FEMA declarations reflect federally declared incidents. They answer different questions — use both signals together for planning.
Buying a small unit for phones only and discovering too late it cannot sustain fridge and medical loads. See the common mistakes section above for more state-specific pitfalls.
