About 4,000 Florida Power customers in Hernando County were without power at 5 p.m. Thursday, a company spokeswoman said.
Just after 6:30 p.m., there were 1,400 customers who still had no electricity, she said.
The power outages were caused by storm-related damage to power lines and transformers.
The spokeswoman said power would probably not be restored until between 9 and 10:30 p.m., because of the rural area and the extent of the storm.
Another sinkhole reported to county
SPRING HILL _ The Hernando County Office of Emergency Management received reports of a sinkhole opening in a retention pond at Delta Woods Park on Thursday evening. One caller reported that a power pole was near the growing sinkhole.
About 6 p.m., staffers went out to the park to check out the reports. The sinkhole had not yet been confirmed.