Authorities are calling emergency services after Hurricane Milton spawned tornadoes before hitting central Florida and then crisscrossing the state, leaving behind destroyed homes, streets choked with downed power lines, fallen trees and debris. The amount of damage is being assessed.
The storm killed at least 16 people, according to the Tampa Bay Times, and that number could rise as recovery efforts continue. This hurricane made landfall less than two weeks after Hurricane Helen hit northwest Florida, remained on land as a tropical cyclone, and caused an unexpected death toll of 230, surpassing Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It was the highest since hitting Orleans. Flooding and strong winds occurred in 10 states.
Milton’s powerful and destructive weather system spawned dozens of tornadoes in Florida on Wednesday, destroying an estimated 150 homes, knocking out power to more than 3.3 million customers and creating a barrier with 6-foot storm surge. They attacked the island and tore off the roof of the baseball stadium. and overturned a 500-foot construction crane.
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But even as the Milton teetered 110 miles south of where it was expected to make landfall, it did not cause as much destruction as authorities had feared. After Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane as it hit Mexico, accelerated again as it crossed the Gulf, and finally made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida, mass evacuations reduced the death toll. No doubt. Tampa was spared a direct hit, and the feared 15-foot storm surge never materialized.
The worst storm surge appeared to occur in Sarasota County, reaching 8 to 10 feet, lower than the worst during Helen. However, 18 inches of rain in some areas is still causing flooding. Causeway bridges and airports have reopened and people are returning to see what remains of their hometowns. Some are healthy, some are destroyed, and some are filled with sand from huge tidal waves.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said this is not a “worst case scenario.” “I am confident that this region will recover very quickly,” he said.
Milton’s dead included five people killed in the tornado at Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce on Florida’s Atlantic coast, and a woman killed by a falling tree branch in Tampa. Two more women were killed by falling trees in Volusia County.
But Milton’s price is also being calculated from a political perspective, setting off a fierce blame game between political candidates in next month’s national election.
Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House have criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for attacking the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Helen and Milton, saying he blamed the deadly storms on his own. He suggested that they might be trying to use it for political gain.
Democratic presidential candidate Harris said after Biden declined re-election in July, “In this crisis, as in many issues that affect the people of our country, it is critical that our leaders recognize dignity.” I think so,” he said. Thursday night at City Hall in Las Vegas. “I have to stress that this is not the time for people to play politics,” she added.
The vice president’s comments are a sign that President Trump believes the Biden administration’s lack of response is planned in a partisan manner, resulting in the abandonment of Republican voters and the “American It came after he suggested that he was left “drowned.” “They have caused people to suffer unjustly,” he said. His comments drew bipartisan criticism, including from some local and state Republican leaders in the affected areas.
Biden criticized the Republican campaign for “the way they’re talking about this issue, which is so un-American,” and directly told Trump to “get a life.”
Meteorologists tracking Milton are plagued by conspiracy theories that he is controlling the weather, even with nuclear explosions, and are facing death threats.
“I’ve never seen a storm attract so much misinformation. We’re just putting out the fires of misinformation here and there,” CBS meteorologist Katie Nicholaw said. spoke. Adding: “Killing meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes. I can’t believe I had to type that.”
