‘Pretty remarkable’: How Florida got power back for 2 million after Ian

In the parking lot of a Winn-Dixie, next to emergency shelters and stores with windows blown out by Hurricane Ian, Carl Kingsbury, Allen Wagner, and Joe Kardel spend almost three-fourths of their day in an RV-style command center. 

They’ve set two plastic tables in the center of the trailer and littered them with maps, multicolored highlighters, unopened pretzel thins, and a gallon bag of granola bars. On the wall is a diagram of the island’s power grid, color-coded in blue and pink. A generator powers the trailer, AC, and a TV in the background showing football – comfort food.