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Sept. 18 (UPI) -- More than 300,000 homes and businesses in the U.S. Gulf Coast were still without electricity on Friday, two days after Hurricane Sally passed through. The storm was responsible for multiple deaths and widespread damage in those states and the Florida Panhandle, officials said.
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Authorities said two people were killed by falling trees in the Atlanta area, where heavy rains led to auto crashes and flooding.
Almost 200,000 customers are without power in Alabama, 140,000 in Florida and 42,000 in Louisiana, according to Poweroutage.us. The outages are affecting many in Escambia County, Fla., which took a direct hit from the storm.
Utility Gulf Power said it doesn't expert full restoration until Tuesday.
"Our crews worked throughout the night and day restoring power and conducting assessments of damage to the energy grid so we could provide the best estimates of power restoration for our customers," Gulf Power President Marlene Santos said in a statement.
"We have a workforce of 7,000 committed to restoring power and you have our commitment that we will continue to work around the clock until every customer is restored."
Escambia County and Pensacola city officials said early damage estimates are close to $30 million, and includes repairs to the Bob Sikes Bridge, which was damaged by a falling crane.
"The bridge itself is structurally sound, but for the southbound lanes, there's been erosion on both the north and south end of the bridge," Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender told reporters.
The nearby Pensacola Bay Bridge, a freeway span damaged by a loose barge during the storm, may take a month or more to repair.
In Alabama, Baldwin County was under curfew overnight Thursday as work crews began to remove thousands of downed trees and power lines.
Some roads were still underwater and impassible in Gulf Shores, where Sally made landfall early Wednesday.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is scheduled to survey the damage Friday and meet with emergency personnel.
