Here's how to track power outages in Florida counties

Helene has intensified to a Category 2 storm as of 8 a.m. Thursday morning with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.

It's expected to gain strength and still expected to make landfall in the Big Bend region Thursday night. The Tampa Bay area could see tropical storm-force winds in the next few hours.

As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, 52,280 Floridians are already without power.

Greater Tampa Bay region county-by-county outages

Hillsborough - 855

Pinellas - 778

Pasco - 232

Sarasota - 2,932

Polk - 283

Hernando - 10

Manatee - 2,949

Power Outage USA posts a map showing county-by-county power outage numbers at poweroutage.us/area/state/florida.

Power outage data is published by the Florida Public Service Commission every three hours online at psc.state.fl.us/ or on on Twitter at @floridapsc.

Florida Power and Light Co. provides service, in part, to these counties: Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto, Hardee and Highlands. Residents can also monitor real-time power outages here.

Duke Energy is a primary power provider for the greater Tampa Bay region and Central Florida, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Highlands, Hardee and Hernando counties.

Polk County is also serviced by Lakeland Electric, from Polk City to Highland city, and the Peace River Electric Cooperative, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative and Tampa Electric Co.(TECO).

To help residents and emergency personnel stay connected ahead of Helene, Comcast has opened 52,296 public Xfinity WiFi hotspots in areas it serves across Florida in Hurricane Helene’s potential path. The free and public hotspots are open for anyone to use, including non-Xfinity customers.

For a map of public Xfinity WiFi hotspots, which are located both indoors and outdoors in places such as shopping districts, parks, and businesses, visit Finder.wifi.xfinity.com.

To find the nearest hotspot location in your city, search the WiFi Hotspot Map.

Monitoring and reporting outages

If you have internet access, outages can be monitored on these major power providers' websites:

• Florida Power and Light Company
• Duke Energy
• Florida Public Utilities
• TECO

If your power is provided by a cooperative or municipal government in the greater Tampa Bay region, you can monitor outage updates on these websites:

• Peace River Electric Cooperative, Inc.
• Lee County Electric Cooperative
• Sumter Electric Cooperative, Inc.
• Lakeland Electric
• Glades Electric Cooperative, Inc.
• Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Power providers ask that residents report any outages they are experiencing.

• Report outages with Florida Power and Light Company here, or call 1-800-468-8243. To report a downed power line, call 1-800-4OUTAGE.
• Report outages with Duke Energy here, call 800-228-8485 or text "OUT" to 57801
• Report outages with TECO here, or call 877-588-1010.