The aftermath of Hurricane Milton has left Florida in ruins, and recovery efforts are just beginning, facing countless challenges ahead.
As the strongest hurricane of 2024, Milton weakened slightly upon landfall but still unleashed devastating winds and dangerous flooding across the state. The storm veered slightly south of Tampa Bay, sparing the heavily populated area from a direct hit and massive storm surges. However, it still flattened communities and caused widespread flooding. Thankfully, the death toll so far is lower than initially feared.
According to the latest reports, at least 14 people have died, including six who perished in two tornadoes that hit St. Lucie County on Florida’s Atlantic coast just before the storm made landfall south of Sarasota at 8:30 PM Wednesday.
Hurricane Milton tore through Florida, ripping the fiberglass roof off a baseball stadium and causing a construction crane to collapse onto a high-rise building in St. Petersburg. It destroyed homes and flooded roads across large portions of the state, leaving around 3 million people without power.
On Florida’s west coast, more than 700 people stranded by floods were rescued on Thursday, just in Hillsborough County alone. Residents who evacuated before the storm, heeding local officials’ pleas to leave, began cautiously returning home as roads and bridges reopened, navigating past downed power lines, fallen trees, and scattered debris.
Authorities remain concerned about the hurricane’s catastrophic impacts, particularly along the central west coast of the state, a region that was also hit by Hurricane Helene on September 26.
“Thankfully, this wasn’t the worst-case scenario,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a Thursday morning press conference.
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