As residents began the difficult process of putting their lives and homes back together, officials in Florida reported that the death toll from Hurricane Milton had increased to at least 16 on Friday.
Power was still out to nearly 2.5 million homes and businesses, and some parts of the storm’s path from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean that cut through the Sunshine State were still flooded.
As a Category 3 storm late on Wednesday, Milton slammed into the Florida Gulf Coast, causing communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which killed 237 people in the southeast United States, including in Florida.
However, it appeared that tornadoes, not floodwaters, were to blame for many of the storm’s deaths up until this point.
Susan Stepp, a 70-year-old resident of Fort Pierce, a city on the Atlantic coast of Florida where four people died in a tornado Milton caused, said, “It was pretty scary.”
She told AFP, “They did find some people just outside dead, in a tree.” They should have left, I wish. Bill, Stepp’s husband, stated that “my 22-ton motor home was picked up and thrown across the yard” by a tornado.
The 72-year-old stated, “Scary and heartbreaking at the same time, to see a lot of damage and all things you really love just gone, but it’s just things, and we’re still here.”
Local officials stated that at least six victims were killed in St. Lucie County, four in Volusia County, two in Pinellas County, and one each in Hillsborough, Polk, Orange, and Citrus counties.
Despite the storm flooding homes, destroying the roof of the Tampa baseball stadium and knocking down power lines, officials in Florida were able to avoid the level of catastrophic destruction they had feared.
Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference, “The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario.”
Michael Lowry, a hurricane expert, wrote that the National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings across the state on Wednesday, the most ever issued for a single calendar day for the state in records dating back to 1986.
Lidier Rodriguez, who was compelled to evacuate his flooded Tampa Bay apartment, stated, “It is not easy to think you have everything and suddenly you have nothing.”
The Coast Guard reported a spectacular rescue of a boat captain who rode out the storm clinging to a cooler in the Gulf of Mexico. “Get a life” search operations were ongoing on Friday.
In a statement, US Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg command center chief Dana Grady said, “This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner.”
Thursday, President Joe Biden urged people to stay inside in the storm’s aftermath because of the dangerous conditions caused by downed power lines and debris.
Donald Trump, a Republican candidate for president, stated in a video that was shared on social media that he and his wife Melania were praying for storm-affected residents of Florida and urged them to vote for him.
The former president stated, referring to the date of the presidential inauguration, that “hopefully, on January 20th you’re going to have somebody that’s really going to help you and help you like never before.”
Late last month, Hurricane Helene hit Florida. The two storms have become election fodder as Trump spreads conspiracy theories that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Vice President Joe Biden are abandoning victims.
On Thursday, Biden retaliated by telling Trump to “get a life.”
“Wake-up call”: Climate change is making temperatures rise, leading to more severe and frequent instances of destructive storms and extreme rainfall. Storms get more energy as they form as warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor.
As she looked over the damage, 72-year-old interior designer Kristin Joyce told AFP in Sarasota Bay, “There is no question it needs to be a serious wake-up call for everyone in terms of climate change.”
