佛羅里達一半地區停電，恢復供電可能要數週時間

More people in the U.S. state of Florida will get to see Tuesday the damage left by Hurricane Irma, while half of the state's population remains without power and roads in many areas are covered by flood waters or debris.

Monroe County was set to allow entry to people living in the uppermost part of the Florida Keys, while the rest of the island chain remains closed with damage to its main highway. Officials said inspections were complete on most of the 42 bridges that connect the many islands in the Keys, with those examined so far all deemed safe.

The Keys were the first part of Florida slammed by the powerful hurricane Sunday morning. The U.S. Navy has sent three ships to help with rescue and recovery efforts, which will include searches of damaged homes that may contain the remains of storm victims.

"My heart goes out to the people in the Keys," Florida Governor Rick Scott said Monday after flying over the islands. "There's devastation. ... I just hope everybody, you know, survived. It's horrible what we saw."

Scott said recovering from Irma will be a "long road" for the state. He told reporters 23,000 electrical utility workers from Florida and thousands more who came to help from other states were working to restore service, but that some people should be prepared to be without power for weeks.

Hurricane Irma has been blamed for at least five deaths in Florida, two in the state of Georgia and two in South Carolina. It killed at least 35 people as it tore through islands in the Caribbean last week.美國佛羅里達州更多居民星期二將目睹颶風艾瑪造成的破壞。與此同時，佛羅里達半數居民仍處於停電狀態，很多地區的道路也被洪水或垃圾和殘骸所覆蓋。

佛羅里達羣島最北端的門羅郡準備允許居民返回，其它島嶼則因爲主要公路遭到破壞仍無法通行。有關官員說，對連接島嶼的42座橋樑的檢查已經基本完成，經過檢查的橋樑大多通過了安全標準。

颶風艾瑪星期天早上衝擊佛羅里達羣島。美國海軍派遣了三艘船隻，參加搜救工作，包括搜尋留在房子的風暴受害者的遺骸。

佛羅里達州州長斯科特星期一飛過島嶼上空視察災情後說：“我對佛羅里達羣島的居民深表同情。簡直是一場浩劫。我希望所有人都能倖免於難。我們看到的景象讓人觸目驚心。”

斯科特州長說，艾瑪後的重建工作任重道遠。他告訴記者說，佛羅里達州2萬3千名電力工人，還有數以千計來自外州的電工，正在設法恢復電力供應，但是一些居民要做好停電數週的準備。

颶風艾瑪在佛羅里達州造成至少5人喪生，喬治亞州和南卡羅萊納州也分別有2人喪生。颶風艾瑪上星期席捲加勒比海島嶼時，共造成至少35人喪生。