Oct 11 (Reuters) -

Duke Energy ( DUK ) expects to take at least four more days

to restore electricity to many of its customers in Florida after

Hurricane Milton

caused power outages across the state, the U.S. utility

firm said on Friday.

Milton made landfall on Florida's west coast on Wednesday as

a Category 3 hurricane before plowing into the Atlantic Ocean a

day later, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center

(NHC).

The hurricane caused widespread flooding and deadly

tornadoes, killing at least 16 people in the state.

Duke Energy ( DUK ) estimated its customers in 12 counties would

have their power restored by 1159 pm ET (0359 am GMT) on Oct.

13, while those in Pasco and Pinellas counties would have to

wait till at least 1159 pm ET on Oct. 15.

According to Duke Energy's ( DUK ) power outage map, at least

750,391 customers were without power as of 15:56 pm ET.

Meanwhile, data from PowerOutage.us suggests 2.2 million

homes and businesses in Florida did not have access to

electricity.

Duke Energy ( DUK ) was the utility with most customers hit,

followed by Florida Power & Light Company, with 677,681 clients

lacking electricity, the data showed.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by

Devika Syamnath)