WINDERMERE, Fla. — One of the biggest — and most frustrating — effects of a hurricane is power outages.   

Hurricane Irma heightened those frustrations for Floridians. That storm made landfall in southwest Florida as a powerful Category 4 in September 2017, then weakened as it made its way up the state.

It also left millions without power, sending companies scrambling. It also raised questions about response times and the overall stability of Florida’s power grid — and Duke Energy said it is addressing customer concerns.

Robert and Natilee Kantecki wake up to the view of Lake Tibet in Windermere every morning.

Keeping an eye on Hurricane Irma's path in 2017, the couple started securing the yard.

“You take all the pots and the furniture and stuff like that," Natilee said.

But they admit, they weren't ready for issues out of sight.

“We’d never had where we were without electricity for such a long period of time, so we weren’t prepared for that," Natilee said. "We didn’t do things like go out and get ice or we didn’t have a generator, didn’t even think to have a generator because we’ve never had that issue before."

Luckily, electric vehicles came in handy, making sure their Tesla had a full charge before the storm. That way phones and electronics stayed charged, and the couple could hear the latest storm news.

“After a while, we realized we could get in here and actually get some A/C to help cool us down," Natilee said.

At the time, the couple also owned about 25 rental properties across Central Florida, saying every morning they'd get new calls of damage. But one day, they received an emergency call.

“A tree had come down on one of the rental properties and that the tenant had gotten hurt," Natilee went on to say, “Took five of us almost four hours just to clear the driveway so we could get the car out to go check on the rental property.”

Luckily, the tenant was OK, but after days of work, Robert had an accident.

“One property, I was just so tired at the end of the day, I just cut my whole knee open," Robert said.

Tired and frustrations building, the couple's home lost power for about eight days. 

“They never gave you an idea," Natilee said. "OK, is it going to be back on tomorrow? Ok, how much longer are we going to have to deal with it?"

The Kanteckis have infrastructure concerns with their provider Duke Energy.

“The electricity polls are wooden ones, for goodness sake," Robert said. "They’re subject to hurricanes. Why don’t you put them underground like most places?"

A lot of people asked that question after Hurricane Irma.

Duke Energy says about 45% of its lines are underground, but there are drawbacks.

“In our underground lines, this is the equipment you see above ground, but it connects to lines that are literally usually under grass or an easement that you can’t see," Ana Gibbs with Duke Energy Florida said. "So it’s not as obvious when there’s a problem." 

Power companies do inspect the above-ground power poles that line the streets to see if they need replacing.

“Those are typically wood," Gibbs said. "But when you look at our transmission polls, those are, a lot of them, currently being replaced from wood to either steel or concrete so that they can sustain stronger winds.”

During Irma, Duke Energy admits it had major issues with the technology that tracks outages. About 1.3 million of Duke Energy's 1.8 million Florida customers lost power during Irma. The power giant restored electricity to 75% of homes within three days.

“We started creating some redundancies to make sure that that didn’t happen again and some backups," Gibbs said.

The company is adapting with new technology. All 1.9 million customers in Florida now have what's called a smart meter.

“The smart meter allows us to literally see down to the individual customer exactly what’s happening to their service," Gibbs said.

​Self-healing technology also now allows for re-routing power when a line is damaged.

“Last year alone, it saved nearly 19 million minutes of outages for our customers if we had to roll a truck every time," she said.

About 45% of customers are seeing that benefit. Within 10 years, 80% will use that technology.

“We learn throughout every single hurricane how we can improve our response," Gibbs said.

Coming into this hurricane season, the Kanteckis are getting a generator. After Irma, the couple sold most of their rental properties.

Despite the ordeal, they feel lucky because their home remained intact and they are here to share their story. 

“When you look back on it, it’s an experience," Robert said. "It’s a challenge. You laugh about it in the end."