Florida’s major power company prepares for this year’s hurricanes by dealing with a fake one

By TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s largest power company is preparing for this year’s hurricane season by pretending a major storm already hit. Florida Power & Light is conducting its annual mock hurricane drills this week to simulate how the utility would respond if a hurricane struck the state and devastated the power grid. On Thursday, they pretended that Hurricane Benito had hit a day earlier with 135 mph winds. The fake storm was stronger than real hurricanes Idalia and Ian, which seriously damaged portions of the state over the past two years. The National Hurricane Center is predicting the upcoming Atlantic and Gulf season will exceed the yearly average of seven tropical storms and seven hurricanes. Not all hurricanes make landfall.