Nearly three million customers were without power in Florida in the hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall.
That means more than a quarter of the power connections monitored by the site are currently down, the US broadcaster said. Among the hardest-hit areas are coastal counties, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Sarasota, as well as inland Hardee County, where nearly all of the 9,600 monitored utilities are down. Officials have warned that the blackouts could last for weeks.
Several people have died in Florida from Hurricane Milton, NBC reports without giving a death toll. St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed that there were ‘several fatalities’ in the county.
Pearson said the victims were at Spanish Lakes Country Club, a retirement community near Fort Pierce on the state’s eastern seaboard.
Milton has weakened to a Category 2 after making landfall in Florida earlier today, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). US officials are warning that it can still be a very dangerous force.
More than two million residents are without power in Florida. The counties hardest hit by the outages are Hardee and Sarasota.
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has donated $5 million to help those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the NGO Feeding America announced. According to The Guardian, The charity Feeding America thanked Swift, saying it was “incredibly grateful … This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms.â€
Waiting for the Hurricane
Milton scares Florida. The message to residents in the areas most at risk is clear: “Listen to the authorities and if you have to evacuate, do it now. It’s a matter of life and death,” warned Joe Biden, reiterating the invitation that local authorities have been repeating for days.
In anticipation of Hurricane Milton, Florida has already been hit by at least seven tornadoes. The National Weather Service has issued more than 50 tornado warnings so far in the Sunshine State.
The escape from the coastal and most exposed areas has already begun, amid long traffic jams and empty gas stations. About 5.9 million people are under a mandatory evacuation order, but how many have already left or will leave their homes is unclear. And it is precisely to the reticent that the American president addressed himself: “Milton is the storm of the century,” he said. “It could be catastrophic,” echoed Kamala Harris.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was even more explicit: those who remain in their “one-story” homes are “basically in coffins.” The biggest problem is the storm surge that could reach 15 feet, double that of Helene two weeks ago. Despite the high alert, many fear that evacuating would mean not being able to return to their homes for a long time. Added to this is the widespread belief that all the ongoing alarm is an exaggeration.
Florida, they say, is used to hurricanes and Milton can’t be that different from the others. But the authorities have no doubts: Milton is not like the others. The hurricane will probably make landfall as a category 3 or 4 and will cross the Florida peninsula, which it will leave as a category 1.
The potential impact will be devastating over a very large area, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, with torrential rains, flooding, tornadoes and winds well over 200 km/h. If Milton hits Tampa directly as a category 3 or higher, the losses would be in the tens of billions, perhaps up to 75 billion. A figure that could easily rise, however.
Losses from Katrina were over $100 billion, while those from Ian, which hit Florida’s west coast in 2022, were in the order of $50 billion. There are still many free places in the facilities set up to take shelter, and authorities have urged those who decided to evacuate at the last minute to get there quickly, also because time is running out.
Several areas are under curfew, so the window to escape is very narrow. In Tampa, despite the pouring rain, there are still vehicles on the road even though all the shops and businesses are closed. Several prisons have refused to evacuate their inmates.
Manatee State Prison, which is in a mandatory evacuation area, said no one inside the facility would be moving. Milton will be a “massive blow” to Florida: While there is hope that it will weaken before it makes landfall, we believe that the hurricane will have a powerful impact and cause a tremendous amount of damage, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement Let’s prepare for the worst – he also express, and hope for the best.
Biden Condemns Milton Misinformation, It’s Anti-American
US President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House, warned that Hurricane Milton would have a destructive impact, urging people to seek safe shelter and condemning lies and misinformation about the storm, and said it is un-American.
Biden’s criticism was aimed at Donald Trump, who continues to accuse the Biden-Harris administration of not having money for hurricane victims because it was spent on migrants and of having responded poorly to the Hurricane Helene emergency.
Asked why he thinks Trump is spreading misinformation, Biden said, “I don’t know. I just don’t know. You can speculate, but I think it’s anti-American. It doesn’t reflect who the hell we are. What are they talking about?”
