Florida Keys in the dark for hours Saturday morning as power outage hit the island chain

Most of the Florida Keys was in the dark Saturday morning — including Key West International Airport — after a transmission line went out.

Keys Energy Services, which provides power to the island chain, noted the outage at 5:07 a.m.

A Transmission Line outage affecting all KEYS’ customers was triggered at 5:07A. KEYS’ crews are working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. pic.twitter.com/x803ejxIJ1

— Keys Energy Services (@KeysEnergy) July 24, 2021

Storms had hit the Keys simultaneously, but it is not clear whether the weather played a part in the power failure, noted WPLG meteorologist Brandon Orr in a tweet at 6:45 a.m.

Most of the Florida Keys have been without power since 5:07am. This includes the Key West Airport, which is in the dark. There has been strong storms in the Keys this morning, but no word on the cause or when it will be restored. pic.twitter.com/Zhr3HYxsaw

— Brandon Orr (@BrandonOrrWPLG) July 24, 2021

Restoring the power hit a snag or two due to a remote communication issue with the Big Pine Key electrical substation after 7 a.m., according to Keys Energy Services.

The provider called in crews from Florida Keys Electric Co-Op. By 8:30 a.m. most customers had power restored, Keys Energy reports. Crews are still working to address remaining pockets without power.

There are no reported flight delays at the Keys airport, with arrivals and departures running on time.

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