Factbox: Some 2.1 million still powerless in U.S. Southeast after hurricane

The number of homes and businesses without power after Hurricane Matthew pummeled the U.S. Southeast Atlantic coast over the weekend started to decline by Sunday afternoon as the storm moved out to sea, according to local electric companies. Some 2.1 million customers, however, remained without service, down from about 2.2 million out earlier Sunday morning. Matthew, the first major hurricane to hit the United States in more than 10 years, lashed Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia with heavy rain and wind, after killing almost 900 people in Haiti as it swept north through the Caribbean. The hardest hit utility was NextEra Energy Inc's FPL power company in Florida, which reported 971,000 customers affected by the storm. FPL said on its website it had already restored service to about 773,000 homes and businesses. FPL said it was on track to restore power to essentially all customers by the end of Sunday but noted pockets of severe flooding and damage likely would extend outages for a few homes and businesses until Monday. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Bill Trott)