The death toll from Hurricane Milton has risen to at least 16 as of Friday, according to officials in Florida, with residents beginning the difficult task of rebuilding their lives and homes. Nearly 2.5 million households and businesses are still without power after the hurricane made landfall late Wednesday.
Milton struck the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing with it powerful winds that devastated communities still recovering from Hurricane Helene just two weeks prior, which resulted in 237 fatalities across the southeastern United States, including Florida.
While flooding was significant, it appears that many of the storm-related deaths were caused by tornadoes generated by Milton. In Fort Pierce, where four people died in a tornado, resident Susan Stepp, 70, described the frightening experience, saying, “It was pretty scary. They did find some people just outside dead, in a tree. I wish they would have evacuated.”
Stepp’s husband, Bill, recounted how a tornado “picked up my 22-ton motor home and threw it across the yard,” adding, “It’s scary and heartbreaking to see so much damage and all the things you really love just gone, but it’s only things, and we’re still here.”
The fatalities were reported across various counties: six in St. Lucie County, four in Volusia County, two in Pinellas County, and one each in Hillsborough, Polk, Orange, and Citrus counties. The storm caused widespread damage, downing power lines, shredding the roof of a Tampa baseball stadium, and flooding homes. However, Florida managed to avoid the catastrophic destruction that officials had initially feared.
“The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario,” said Governor Ron DeSantis during a news conference. The National Weather Service issued a record 126 tornado warnings on Wednesday, the highest for a single day in the state’s history since 1986, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry.
Lidier Rodriguez, who was forced to evacuate his flooded apartment near Tampa Bay, shared, “It is not easy to think you have everything and suddenly you have nothing.” Search operations continued on Friday, with the Coast Guard reporting a dramatic rescue of a boat captain who survived the storm by clinging to a cooler in the Gulf of Mexico. “This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” said Dana Grady, the chief of the US Coast Guard’s Sector St. Petersburg command center.
President Joe Biden urged people to stay indoors in the storm’s aftermath, as downed power lines and debris created hazardous conditions. In a social media video, former President Donald Trump expressed his prayers for Florida residents affected by the storm and urged them to vote for him, saying, “Hopefully, on January 20th, you’re going to have somebody that’s really going to help you.”
Hurricane Helene hit Florida just last month, and the consecutive storms have sparked political debate, with Trump spreading conspiracy theories suggesting that Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are neglecting victims. Biden fired back on Thursday, telling Trump to “get a life.”
Scientists warn that extreme rainfall and destructive storms are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. As warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, they provide additional energy for storm formation. “There is no question it needs to be a serious wake-up call for everyone in terms of climate change,” said Kristin Joyce, a 72-year-old interior designer surveying the damage in Sarasota Bay
