Hurricane Milton live: Florida attempts to recover from ‘once in a lifetime’ storm as 1.6m still without power
Forecasters have warned that the threat of dangerous flooding will remain in place for days or even weeks
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Florida is now facing a long road to recovery following back-to-back “once in a lifetime” storms from Hurricanes Milton and Helene.
At least 17 people have been killed as a result of Hurricane Milton which made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday night near Sarasota County’s Siesta Key, spawning dozens of tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and devastating storm surge.
Days later, the threat to life is far from over with 1.6 million homes still without power across Florida as of Saturday morning and forecasters warning that the threat of dangerous flooding will remain in place for days or even weeks.
Meanwhile a phosphate mine operator warned that during the storm its facility dumped thousands of gallons of pollution into Tampa Bay as drains overflowed.
Authorities and residents are working to assess the extent of the damage from the storm, with those in the west-central region the worst impacted. More than 50,000 linemen have been deployed in an effort to restore power, Governor Ron DeSantis said.
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Sailboat owner says ‘all hell broke loose’ while riding out Milton with cat
Longtime Floridian Lenny Lopez told CNN Friday that he feared losing his sailboat after riding out Hurricane Milton at a marina in Ruskin near Tampa Bay.
He was with his cat, Roscoe.
Lopez said Milton’s winds shifted late Wednesday, and “all hell broke loose.”
“This storm was blowing so hard that the water was flat, but the wind just shook you like a rag doll,” said Lopez.
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Phosphate mine spill in Tampa Bay after Hurricane Milton
The owner of a major phosphate mine disclosed that pollution spilled into Tampa Bay during the hurricane.
The Mosaic Company said in a statement that heavy rains from the storm overwhelmed a collection system at its Riverview site, pushing excess water out of a manhole and into discharges that lead to the bay. The company said the leak was fixed on Thursday.
Mosaic said the spill likely exceeded a 17,500-gallon minimum reporting standard, though it did not provide a figure for what the total volume might have been.
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FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell says agency will need supplemental funding from Congress
FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters Friday that her agency will need more funding passed soon.
“The Disaster Relief Fund certainly does not have enough money to continue recoveries for everything that I have through the entire fiscal year,” Criswell said.
“We’re assessing every day how much it’s drawing down on that so I can continue to work with my leadership as well as Congress as far as when we will need a supplemental,” she said. “We will need one. It’s just a matter of when.”
DeSantis says portions of Manasota Key Island are ‘unpassable'
National Hurricane Center’s track forecasts for Milton were ‘exceptional'
The National Hurricane Center’s track forecasts for the eventual path of Hurricane Milton were unusually accurate.
The storm was always predicted to come ashore near Tampa Bay.
Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami, told Axios that this never changed. The track forecasts, he said, outperformed their typical average error rates for such storms.
“The track forecasts of the landfall location were exceptional,” McNoldy said. “I think we all wish they could always be that accurate for so long. It doesn’t change the fate of the eventual impacts, but it certainly helps with preparation and evacuation.”
Video captures moment 8 people were rescued from a flooded house
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