HIALEAH, Fla. -- According to Florida Power & Light, power to 77 percent of customers who lost service during Hurricane Wilma has been restored, but some of the hundreds of thousands who remain without electricity are growing frustrated.

Every day, tens of thousands of customers get power back. According to FPL, power has been restored to more than 750,000 customers in Miami-Dade County, while 205,900 remain without power. In Broward County, power was restored to 570,100 customers and 292,700 remain without power.

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FPL said it is working as fast as possible, with more than 18,000 workers helping with the hurricane's aftermath -- the biggest team ever assembled for hurricane recovery.

Crewmembers from the Public Service Enterprise Group in New Jersey said they love working in South Florida because every time they restore power, they get a standing ovation.

Despite all the progress, some residents are growing frustrated. Isabel Fernandez, of Hialeah, did not have power eight days after Hurricane Wilma.

"It's horrible, horrible -- candlelight, lanterns. I've heard rumors that we won't be getting it in this area for a while, actually," Fernandez said.

FPL crews are working all around her neighborhood, but so far no power is coming into Fernandez's house.

"I guess maybe they're doing the best they can under the circumstances. There's quite a few people without people. We just get desperate and we wish it would be a lot quicker than it is," Fernandez said.

"Generally, I would say, though, that the tri-county area will see 100 percent power restoration no later than Nov. 13," said Geisha Williams, FPL vice president of distribution.

Fernandez wonders if options such as underground power could be a good solution in hurricane-prone areas.

"It would make sense that with all the wind and so forth it would be much, much better," Fernandez said.

FPL said that underground power lines are not the magic bullet cure for power problems, however, because with hurricanes come flooding and rains. When underground power lines get flooded, it takes even longer to repair.

"In order to restore those communities that are heavily underground in the Panhandle, the utility up there actually had to install overhead facilities because it was going to take months -- I think it actually still is being worked on -- months to restore an underground system," Williams said.

FPL gets 120,000 new customers per year, about 65 to 75 percent of whom get underground power. All new construction in Miami-Dade County and most in Broward County gets underground power, NBC 6's Tom Llamas reported.

Power Loss Affects Restoration Of Other Utilities

After more than a week of suffering without electricity, South Florida wants to know when things will get back to normal.

The good news is that life for many South Florida residents is slowly getting back to normal. The bad news is that many residents think restoration of telephones, cell phones, cable TV and water services is not fast enough.

Residents in many Broward County neighborhoods must still boil water before using it.

Communities still included in boil water orders include Fort Lauderdale, Hillsborough Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Sea Ranch Lakes, Tamarac east of 31st Avenue, Wilton Manors, Port Everglades, the Community of Hacienda Village in Davie and a portion of Coral Springs bordered by Wiles Road at the north, Royal Palm Boulevard to the south, Sawgrass Expressway to the west and State Road 7/441 to the east.

There are no water concerns in Miami-Dade County, NBC 6's Ike Seamans reported.

Bell South reported that except for areas where there is line damage, much of its service has been restored. Wireless telephones will not work until power is restored, however.

Sprint/Nextel reported that its service is 90 percent operational in South Florida, Seamans reported. Cingular reported similar success throughout the region.

Cable TV companies are also working to make repairs.

"We're very excited, being up 50 percent one week after a hurricane like this. We were down 100 percent right after Wilma. We are making great strides," said Spero Canton, public relations director for Comcast.

When power is fully restored, people might not have cable TV immediately or it might be intermittent for a few days because of damage to lines in neighborhoods or in homes.

Atlantic Broadband reported that it is 100 percent operational, while Adelphia Cable said it might be two weeks before it is completely restored after electricity returns, Seamans reported.

The complete restoration of many of these services depends upon the restoration of electricity.