ST Petersburg, Fla. (AP) — Rescue crews plucked Florida residents from Hurricane Milton Thursday after the storm battered coastal communities, where homes were torn apart and mud filled streets. Created a barrage of deadly tornadoes. At least six people died.
Two weeks after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helen, the system knocked out power to more than 3 million customers, flooded barrier islands, tore off the roof of a baseball field and A construction crane overturned.
In one of the most dramatic rescues, Hillsborough County officials pulled a 14-year-old boy into a boat after they found him floating on a fence. A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man stuck on an iceberg in the Gulf of Mexico after a fishing boat broke down off the coast of Madeira just hours before the hurricane made landfall.
Despite the devastation, many offered condolences Milton Not bad. The hurricane made a direct hit on Tampa, and the deadly storm surge that scientists feared never materialized.
The storm tracked south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane on Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. The damage was widespread, and water levels could continue to rise for several days, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not a “worst case scenario.”
“You’re dealing with two hurricanes in two weeks — it’s not easy to go through — but I’ve seen a lot of resilience across this state,” the governor said at a briefing in Sarasota. “Very optimistic that this area is going to bounce back very, very quickly,” he said.
Five people were killed in a tornado that ripped through Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce on Florida’s Atlantic coast, where homes were destroyed, officials said. Police also found the woman lying on a tree branch.
Speaking at a White House briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorgas said there were reports of 10 deaths from the hurricane, but he cautioned that the number was tentative.
At least 340 individuals and 49 pets have been rescued in ongoing efforts, DeSantis said Thursday afternoon.
Just south of Tampa, Natasha Shannon and her husband, Terry, felt lucky to be alive after the tornado peeled off the tin roof of their cinder block home in Palmetto. They spent the night in a shelter with their three children and two grandchildren.
“I said, ‘Baby, we’ve got to go. Because we’re not going to survive this,'” he said.
They returned to find the roof torn in sheets across the street, shredded insulation hanging from exposed roof beams and their belongings drenched.
“It’s not much but it’s ours,” he said. “What little we had is gone.”
The worst storm surge appeared in Sarasota County, where it measured 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3 meters) — less than the worst place during Helen. The storm dropped up to 18 inches (45 centimeters) of rain in some areas.
Officials in the hardest-hit Florida counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee warned of downed power lines, trees on roads, blocked bridges and flooding and urged people to stay home.
Among dozens of tornadoes was one twister, which hit Matlacha, a small barrier island just off Fort Myers. The fishing and tourist village also endured an upheaval, with many colorful buildings sustaining severe damage. Tom Reynolds, 90, spent the morning shoveling 4 feet of mud and water and collecting pieces of aluminum siding torn off by a twister that also took a car and threw it across the road.
Elsewhere on the island, a house was thrown into a street that was temporarily blocked off. Some buildings caught fire. Reynolds said he plans to renovate the house he built three decades ago.
“What else am I going to do?” He said.
By contrast, city workers on Anna Maria Island were thankful Thursday morning that they were spared flooding as they hauled away debris two weeks after buildings were demolished and piles of sand piled up to 6 feet (1.8 m) high. Those piles may have helped protect homes from further damage, said Jeremy Roberts of the state Emergency Response Team.
“I’m shocked it’s not there yet,” city employee Kati Sands said as she removed siding and broken lights from the streets. “We lost so much with Helen, and not much more.”
Helen Flooding flooded streets and homes in West Florida and killed at least 230 people across the South. In many places along the coast, municipalities rushed to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge could blow it up and cause any damage.
Electricity was cut off in most parts of the state. More than 3.4 million homes and businesses were without power electrical resistance. usIt tracks usage reports.
The fabric that serves as the roof of Tropicana Field – House Tampa Bay Rays Baseball team in St. Petersburg – torn apart by high winds. Garbage piled up in the field.
About 80,000 people spent the night in shelters, and thousands left after authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders in 15 Florida counties totaling 7.2 million people.
In Punta Gorda, a 10-foot surge from the Peace River entered the historic district, damaging homes and stranding six boats on a riverside street. This is the third surge to hit the neighborhood in three months.
Josh Baldwin said he’s leaning toward scrapping his 38-foot boat rather than paying $100,000 to fix it. He couldn’t get insurance because he was tied up in Punta Gorda.
“They don’t want to pay, and this place is always ruined in hurricanes,” he said.
A half-block away, IT workers Kent and Kathy Taylor and their son used an SUV attached to a chain to pull waterlogged drywall from the basement of their three-story home they bought in July. The lower level was burned, but the upper floors are still structurally sound.
“It’s going to be beautiful again — it’s a nick,” Kathy Taylor said.
By Thursday afternoon, Milton was a post-tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean with sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) — barely hurricane force.
Crossing the bridge from the mainland to Anna Maria Island early Thursday morning, Police Chief John Cosby breathed a sigh of relief. Almost all residents were evacuated. There were no injuries or deaths, and the planned storm surge never happened. After fearing his police department would be underwater, it was dry.
“It’s nice to have a place to come back to,” he said.
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This version removes an incorrect reference to 150 tornadoes. Scientists say it’s too early to know how many tornadoes have formed.
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Payne and Daly reported from Palmetto, Florida. Associated Press reporters Holly Ramer and Kathy McCormack in New Hampshire; Terry Spencer in Matlacha, Florida; Stephanie Modatt in Fort Pierce, Florida; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale; Michael Goldberg in Minneapolis; Joshua Bock in Washington and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.
