Millions of Floridians began a long and difficult recovery today (Oct. 11) after the state’s second major hurricane in two weeks, restoring power, shoveling mud from flooded homes and clearing mountains of debris left by hurricanes Milton and Helene.
While some coastal cities such as Tampa were spared the catastrophic surge of seawater that many forecasters feared, Milton brought widespread flooding and touched off a spate of deadly tornadoes on Florida’s east coast, killing at least 16 people and leaving millions without power, according to a report from Reuters.
Compounding the problem, while Milton was bearing down, many areas had still been clearing debris and repairing damage from Hurricane Helene, which slammed into the Gulf Coast late last month before battering much of the southeast U.S.
During a 72-hour period this week, the Florida Department of Transportation removed 2,200 truckloads of debris from Pinellas County barrier islands near the mouth of Tampa Bay, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Friday at a briefing.
Utility workers repaired downed power lines and damaged cellphone towers, while crews from government agencies and residents armed with chainsaws cleared downed trees and mopped up flooded neighborhoods in cities and towns swamped by heavy rains.
The number of Florida homes and businesses without electricity dropped to about 2.27 million by late Friday morning, according to the website PowerOutage.us, from a high of more than 3.4 million in Milton’s immediate aftermath. Some customers have been waiting days for power to be restored after Helene hit the area.
Here’s a look at how some Florida destinations fared:
- In St. Petersburg, hundreds of trees were downed, and more than 100 traffic signals were not working as of late Thursday, Mayor Kenneth Welch said at a news briefing.
- In St. Pete Beach, a barrier-island city, clearing debris from the twin storms will take weeks, Mayor Adrian Petrila told ABC News.
- In Sarasota County, a bridge to the hard-hit barrier islands reopened on Friday morning to allow residents to return to their properties, though officials warned that water and power services would likely be limited.
- In Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, workers have visited more than 450 homes and businesses to assess damage since Thursday, said C.K. Moore, an emergency-management official. There were 13 structures known to be destroyed and another 111 with major damage.
- Between Siesta Key and Fort Myers Beach, peak water levels reached five to 10 feet above ground level, according a preliminary analysis posted by the National Hurricane Center.
There were at least 16 hurricane-related deaths, CBS News cited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as saying, with much of the hurricane’s wrath directed across the pensula toward the Atlantic coast, where—in St. Lucie County—a flurry of tornadoes killed several people, including at least two in a senior-living community, according to local officials.
Airports Up and Running
- Tampa International Airport
- St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport
- Orlando International Airport
- Orlando Sanford Airport
- Daytona Beach International Airport
- Melbourne Orlando International Airport
- Palm Beach International Airport
- Fort Lauderdale & Miami’s international airports