[1/2] Power line poles lean after Tropical Storm Helene caused widespread damage to infrastructure, in Lake Lure, North Carolina, U.S. October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

More than 97,000 homes and businesses in Georgia and North Carolina were still without power on Wednesday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, according to data from PowerOutage.us, as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton.

Helene hit the Florida Panhandle on Sept. 26.

Milton is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida on Wednesday night, and remain at hurricane strength while it moves across the Florida peninsula through Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.

U.S. energy company Duke Energy (DUK.N), a major supplier in the Carolinas, had the most outages last week, according to PowerOutage.us.

The company said it has restored 2.6 million customer outages in South and North Carolina since Helene hit

Helene, which killed more than 200 people across six states, was the deadliest named storm to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 1,400 people in 2005.