Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long says the government response to Hurricane Irma has shifted from saving lives -- to the beginning of a long recovery process.
Long said at a briefing Friday that good progress is being made in getting people back into their homes or into temporary housing such as apartments or hotels.
Still, about 10,000 people in Florida remain in emergency shelters.
Federal officials are focused on restoring electrical power and getting gasoline into areas suffering fuel shortages. Long said the lack of electricity has affected fuel supplies because many gas stations haven't been retrofitted to run their pumps on generator power.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who appeared with Long, urged Floridians who still don't have power to be patient. He said the severe damage from Irma's winds will require that parts of the power grid to effectively be rebuilt.
Perry said 60,000 utility workers from U.S. and Canada are in the disaster area working to get power back on.