Authorities in Florida said Friday Hurricane Milton was responsible for at least 16 deaths, and more than 2 million people remain without power as evacuees returned to their homes to assess the damage and begin cleaning up from the storm.
As of midday Friday, Florida time, the website poweroutage.us reported 2.3 million people remained without power. Late Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden said more than 50,000 line workers and 1,000 federal personnel were on the ground to respond.
The storm made landfall late Wednesday near Siesta Key in Sarasota County as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour. It carved a path of destruction across central Florida, affecting many communities still cleaning up from Hurricane Helene two weeks earlier.
The hurricane plowed across the state, prompting authorities to issue flash flood emergencies, before the center of the storm emerged over the Atlantic Ocean a few hours before sunrise Thursday.
In photos: Hurricane Milton slams Florida
While the state’s western coast felt the direct hit from the storm, Milton also spawned tornadoes that affected the southeastern part of the state. Local media reported more than 19 tornadoes touched down even before the hurricane made landfall. Tornadoes are believed responsible for several deaths.
State government officials and the Florida National Guard reported more than 1,000 people were rescued since the storm made landfall.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported one of its aircrews rescued a man Wednesday clinging to a cooler floating in the Gulf of Mexico 48 kilometers (30 miles) off the Florida coast. It said the man was later taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical treatment.
State officials said while total damage assessments are still being made, the storm could have been much worse. The population center of Tampa was spared a direct hit, and the predicted record-setting storm surge did not materialize.
Meanwhile, scientists said climate change made Hurricane Milton stronger and more dangerous.
In a report issued Friday, the non-profit group Weather Attribution said Milton went through an “explosive intensification” from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in 24 hours.
The group said the rapid intensification was driven and sustained by very high sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
