Evacuations Saves Lives As Hurricane Milton Tears Across Florida

Photo: Reuters/Marco Bello

FORT PIERCE, FL (REUTERS) – Hurricane Milton plowed into the Atlantic Ocean on October 10 after cutting a destructive path across Florida that spawned tornados, killed at least 10 people and left millions without power, but the storm did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared.

The state was still in danger of river flooding after up to 18 inches of rain fell. Authorities were waiting for rivers to crest, but so far levels were at or below those after Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said.

Governor Ron DeSantis said the state had avoided the “worst-case scenario,” though he cautioned the damage was still significant and flooding remained a concern.

The Tampa Bay area appeared to sidestep the storm surge that had prompted the direst warnings, though the barrier islands along the shore south of the city endured extensive flooding.

Most of the severe damage reported so far stemmed from the tornados, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) head Deanne Criswell, who was in Tallahassee. “The evacuation orders saved lives,” she said, noting that more than 90,000 residents went to shelters.

President Joe Biden, who postponed an overseas trip to monitor Milton, said on he believes the U.S. Congress should come back into session to address disaster relief funding needs following the storm. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate are not scheduled to return to Washington until after the November 5 election.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a White House briefing that there were reports of 10 deaths thus far, adding it appeared they were caused by tornados. At least 27 twisters touched down in Florida, he said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Florida officials had been monitoring the storm and had been in regular touch with cities to see what was needed through out the process of evacuation to ensure things went as best as it could in the air and on road.

In St. Lucie County on Florida’s east coast, a spate of tornados killed five people, including at least two in the senior-living Spanish Lakes communities, county spokesperson Erick Gill said.

Snapped concrete electric poles and overturned trucks in ditches offered evidence of the twisters’ power.

More than 3.2 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power on according to PowerOutage.us. At least some had already been waiting for days for power to be restored after Hurricane Helene hit the area two weeks ago.

Milton shredded the fabric roof of Tropicana Field, the stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg, but there were no reported injuries. The ballpark was a staging area for responders, with thousands of costs set up on the field.

In downtown St. Petersburg, dozens of onlookers came out in the bright sunshine to look at a fallen crane that sliced off a corner of the Johnson Pope building on First Avenue South, home also to the Tampa Bay Times. The crumpled boom stretched from one end of the street to the other.

Ken Wood, 58, a state ferryboat operator in Pinellas County, fled his Dunedin home on Florida’s Gulf Coast with his 16-year-old cat Andy, after making the “harrowing” mistake of riding out Hurricane Helene two weeks ago in his mobile home.

They heeded evacuation orders and headed north. He is worried about his home but was awaiting official words that roads are clear before returning. Helene destroyed about a third of his neighborhood, and the streets were still piled with rubble that could have become wind-driven projectiles.