Hurricane Ian’s wreckage is poised to leave millions of Floridians without power, possibly for weeks — and could worsen a supply-chain crunch that threatens the nation’s readiness for future disasters.

More than 2.5 million electricity customers in Florida had lost service as of Thursday morning, with many more outages expected as the Category 4 hurricane lumbered across the state. Parts of the grid will experience damage “beyond repair,” the CEO of the state’s largest power utility warned, telling reporters not to expect an instant resumption of power.

“Repairing can be done often in hours or days,” Florida Power & Light chief executive Eric Silagy said during a media call Wednesday. “Rebuilding can take many days or weeks. So we are preparing for that rebuilding effort as we speak.”

“This is a catastrophic storm,” he added. “There will be catastrophic damage across the entire system,” he said.

Adding to the challenges is a nationwide shortfall of critical electrical equipment, such as certain kinds of transformers, that crews may need to restore power in parts of Florida.

Key West Fire Department works on a strip mall fire on Flagler Ave., in midtown Key West, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian’s tropical winds, Sept. 28, 2022.