Hurricane Milton live updates: Biden visits hard-hit communities in Florida as power outages continue in Tampa
Forecasters have warned that the threat of dangerous flooding will remain in place for days or even weeks
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
President Joe Biden is visiting Florida today to tour communities impacted by Hurricane Milton.
During the visit, the president is expected to announce more than $600m in funding for projects for electric grid resilience, to help the state become better equipped to deal with future storms.
With the storm also impacting fuel delivery, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state is also offering free gasoline at state fuel depots.
So far, at least 17 people have been confirmed dead as a result of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday night, spawning dozens of tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and devastating storm surge.
Six people in St Lucie County retirement village were killed by tornadoes brought on by the hurricane after a dozen twisters spawned in the region within 20 minutes.
While Floridians return home to survey the damage to their communities, officials are warning that major flooding could still hit north of Tampa.
As of Sunday morning, more than 900,000 homes were still without power in Florida, with those in the west-central region the worst impacted. Damage from the storm is estimated to have cost upwards of $160bn.
Hurricane Milton: How ‘storm of the century’ compares, in visuals
Florida man uses plastic wrap to protect his prized Corvette ahead of Milton — turns out he didn’t need to
Hurricane Milton is the best argument yet for climate change action
Hurricane Milton conspiracy theories are deadly – and play right into Trump’s hands
How Hurricane Helene's 'wake up call' helped Florida residents prepare for Milton
Florida residents who fled hundreds of miles to escape Hurricane Milton made slow trips home on crowded highways, weary from their long journeys and the clean up work awaiting them but also grateful to be coming back alive.
"I love my house, but I'm not dying in it," Fred Neuman said on Friday while walking his dog outside a rest stop off Interstate 75 north of Tampa.
Mr Neuman and his wife live in Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall on Wednesday night as a powerful, Category 3 hurricane.
Heeding local evacuation orders ahead of the storm, they drove nearly 500 miles (800 kilometres) to Destin on the Florida Panhandle. Neighbours told the couple the hurricane destroyed their carport and inflicted other damage, but Mr Neuman shrugged, saying their insurance should cover it.
Nearby, Lee and Pamela Essenburm made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at a picnic table as cars pulling off the slow-moving interstate waited for parking spaces outside the crowded rest stop.
Their home in Palmetto, on the south end of Tampa Bay, had a tree fall in the backyard. They evacuated fearing the damage would be more severe, worrying Milton might hit as a catastrophic Category 4 or 5 storm.
"I wasn't going to take a chance on it," Lee Essenbaum said. "It's not worth it."
Milton killed at least 10 people when it tore across central Florida, flooding barrier islands, ripping the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium and spawning deadly tornadoes.
Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations. The still-fresh devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene just two weeks earlier probably helped compel many people to flee.
"Helene likely provided a stark reminder of how vulnerable certain areas are to storms, particularly coastal regions," said Craig Fugate, who served as administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under president Barack Obama.
"When people see first hand what can happen, especially in neighbouring areas, it can drive behaviour change in future storms."
The Associated Press.
FHP troopers team up with FWC for search and rescue efforts
Florida pig, named Millie, rescued from Hurricane Milton floodwaters
Rescue efforts continue in the state of Florida as fears of Hurricane Milton lingers over residents.
Hundreds of people and dozens of animals have been pulled out of floodwaters including a pig named Millie.
The Independent’s Noopur Jambhekar has more: https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/hurricane-milton-florida-pig-rescue-b2628117.html
Hurricane Milton: Watch US Coast Guard rescue man clinging to ice box
Hurricane Milton: Watch US Coast Guard rescue man clinging to ice box
This is the moment a man clinging to an ice box in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Milton is rescued by the US Coast Guard. Rescuers located the man 30 miles off Longboat Key in Florida, after he became stranded. The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, had been aboard a fishing vessel that became disabled on Wednesday (9 October), just hours before the hurricane made landfall. He managed to radio the Coast Guard station in St Petersburg before losing communication at around 6:45pm. On Thursday, search crews located him drifting about 48 kilometres offshore, clinging to the open ice box. This dramatic video released by the Coast Guard shows a diver being lowered from a helicopter to swim to the man and rescue him.
Polk County officers helped woman who went into labor during Milton
Climate crisis increased rainfall from Hurricane Milton, study finds
Rainfall from Hurricane Milton was increased by 20 to 30 per cent because of the climate crisis, according to a new rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution.
Storms like Milton are now about twice as likely as they would have been without human-caused warming, the group found.
The climate crisis also made wind speeds from the hurricane approximately 10 per cent stronger.
World Weather Attribution said their findings for Milton are similar to those following Hurricane Helene.
Hotter ocean temperatures are known to supercharge hurricanes, helping them intensify. In recent years more hurricanes have been rapidly intensifying, reaching Category 5, the highest on the scale. Milton is the quickest storm on record to rapidly intensify up to Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico.
Aerial photos show destroyed houses in Florida after Hurricane Milton
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments