The Struggle For Power Post Wilma

Amid Long Gas Lines, Electricity Slowly Reappears In S. Florida

(CBS/AP)  Florida Power and Light says it's restored electricity to 60 percent of the customers who lost power because of Hurricane Wilma.

But there are still hundreds of thousands of people in the dark -- and utility officials say it could be close to Thanksgiving before power is fully restored.

That means several more weeks before scores of people can refill their refrigerators, watch television or take a hot shower

While tens of thousands of Floridians spend hours in line waiting for a little water, a hot meal and a few bags of ice, just a couple miles away in Miami Beach, well-heeled residents are checking into plush beachside resorts, CBS News correspondent Trish Regan reports.

Complete with pools, kitchens and power. For $389 a night, you can move into the Hurricane Escape Suite at the Fontainebleau.

And at trendy South Beach restaurants, you can get all the water, ice, and food you can pay for.

As some peoples' lives return to normal, Regan says, others are still struggling for basics. But, the one thing everyone here has in common is this: long waits at the gas pumps.

On Saturday afternoon, motorist Pasha Waters waited at the end of a gas line and she was near the end of her rope.

Asked how much longer she expected to wait, Waters replied, "Oh, an hour, at least. I've got to get to work."

Waters is struggling to balance getting to work, raising her 7-year-old son and waiting in what seems like an endless line.

But the problem isn't the gas -- there's 190 million gallons of it in Florida ports. The problem is getting the pumps turned on when nearly half of southern Florida is still without electricity.

Adrian Palma runs a Shell station. He tells Regan long lines are unavoidable when power is out.

Palma adds he wishes he had a generator, but "one to run this station costs about $20,000, and the oil companies just won't pay for that."

Five days after Wilma ripped through South Florida, about 832,700 people remained without power. Electricity might not be fully restored until Nov. 22, officials warned.

Also, the death toll from Hurricane Wilma rose to 21 in Florida, after state emergency officials reported seven more deaths Saturday in the storm's aftermath.

The deaths brought the total number of casualties from the storm, which pummeled Mexico, Haiti and Jamaica before hitting Florida, to 38.

Some people died during cleanup, others were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning or traffic accidents during power outages, Florida emergency officials said.