Hurricane Milton leaves at least 5 dead, millions without power
Hurricane Milton barrelled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after ploughing across Florida, where it left at least 5 dead, knocked out power to more than 3 million customers and whipped up 150 tornado warnings.
At present, all storm surge and tropical storm warnings related to Milton have been discontinued.
Speaking today at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Florida’s Gov. Ron De Santis said five fatalities have been confirmed from Hurricane Milton.
He also told reporters that the worst-case scenario did not happen.
“The storm was significant,” he noted, “but thankfully, this was not the worst case scenario.”
“It doesn’t mean there’s not going be a lot of damage, it doesn’t mean there’s not going to be a lot we’re going to have to contend with,” he said. “But, just in terms of what we were prepped for, I think we probably have an abundance of resources.”
KEY POINTS TO NOTE:
—Death toll: At least 5 people died in the storm, but that number could rise throughout the day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a mid-day briefing.
—Power outages: More than 3 million homes and businesses are still without power, according to PowerOutages.us. Florida’s central Gulf Coast was hardest hit by the outages, including Hardee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.
—Flight cancellations: There were more than 2,250 U.S. flight cancellations as of midday Thursday, according to tracking service FlightAware, following 1,970 on Wednesday. Airports are also slowly beginning to reopen following damage assessments.
All warnings related to Milton have been discontinued
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The U.S. National Hurricane Center discontinued all storm surge and tropical storm warnings related to Milton, now a post-tropical cyclone, as of their latest and final advisory.
Milton was located about 220 miles (335 kilometres) northeast of Great Abaco Island, one of the Bahama’s northmost islands, and was moving east away from Florida’s coastline at 21 mph (33 kph) as of 5 p.m. Thursday. It has sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) and was expected to continue weakening, the hurricane center said.
Hurricane Milton spawned destructive, deadly tornadoes before making landfall
By SUMAN NAISHADHAM, ISABELLA O’MALLEY
Multiple powerful tornadoes ripped across Florida hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday, tearing off roofs, overturning vehicles and sucking debris into the air as the black V-shaped columns moved through.
Dozens of tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Milton caught many Floridians by surprise as they braced for heavy rain, strong winds and especially storm surges. Violent twisters were seen crossing highways, ripping off roofs and downing trees and power lines.
There have been 38 preliminary eyewitness reports of tornadoes since Wednesday night, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Prediction Center. Florida sees a total of 50 tornadoes on average in a whole year. The number confirmed is expected to rise over the coming days as damaged sites are assessed.
The eyewitness reports came as the National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings in the state Wednesday.
“Certainly that will be a notable part of this storm, was how many tornadoes occurred within such a short period,” said Matthew Elliott, warning coordination meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center.
Gov. DeSantis praises Florida’s resilience
By JEFF MARTIN
“You face two hurricanes in a couple of weeks — not easy to go through — but I’ve seen a lot of resilience throughout this state,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Thursday afternoon briefing in Sarasota.
“When you’re a Floridian, you kind of just know that these are things that can happen and you roll with it and you just kind of deal with it,” he said.
“I’ve seen a lot of grit, I’ve seen a lot of determination and I’m very confident that this area is going to bounce back very, very quickly.”
Gov. DeSantis says at least 340 people and 49 pets have been rescued in ongoing search-and-rescue operations
By JEFF MARTIN
At a Thursday afternoon briefing in Sarasota, DeSantis said that after flying over some of the hard-hit areas, he saw that many of the homes built in recent years fared well in the storm.
“Another thing I think I can say — our buildings that were built in the last 20 or 30 years, they did very well,” he said.
Tampa International Airport plans to reopen Friday, although Milton damaged six jet bridges used to board planes
By DAVID KOENIG
Also, crews are repairing leaks in the main terminal.
The airport said the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the control tower to resume full operations, roads and parking garages are in good shape, and there are no issues with the wastewater system. The airport’s fuel depot lost power and is running on generator power while repairs are underway.
Tampa police officers on Thursday morning discovered the body of a woman in her 70s underneath a tree branch
By FREIDA FRISARO
The officers were investigating reports of a large tree branch that had fallen when they found the woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said the death appeared to be the result of post-hurricane restoration efforts. The woman’s name wasn’t immediately released.
“Although the storm has passed, its devastation has tragically taken the life of one of our community members,” the police chief said.
President Biden says he wants Congress to act as quickly as possible to approve more disaster response funding
By NANCY BENAC
But he stopped short of saying he’d order lawmakers to return from recess early.
Speaking to reporters at the White House about the federal response to Hurricane Milton’s destruction, Biden singled out urgent funding needed by the Small Business Administration, which offers low-cost loans to businesses damaged in storms.
“I think, in terms of the SBA, it’s pretty right at the edge right now,” Biden said. “And I think the Congress should be coming back and moving on emergency needs immediately.”
But asked directly if he was ordering Congress to return early, Biden was noncommittal, saying only, “I think congress should move as rapidly as they can.”
Milton’s landfall marked the 6th time in history that Florida had three hurricanes make landfall in a single year
By CHRISTOPHER KELLER
That’s according to Colorado State University senior research scientist Phil Klotzbach.
The others were in 1871, 1886, 1964, 2004 and, 2005.
In 2004, the state nearly had four hurricanes make landfall in a single year, Klotzbach said. But while Charley, Frances and Jeanne made landfall in Florida, Ivan made landfall in Alabama, just west of the Alabama-Florida border.
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