Hurricane Milton was not as destructive as expected, FEMA official says
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Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, where it knocked out power to more than 3 million customers and whipped up 150 tornado warnings.
Here’s what to know:
- Power outages: Just under 3 million homes and businesses are still without power, according to PowerOutages.us. Florida’s central Gulf Coast was hardest hit by the outages, including Hardee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.
- Death toll: The storm caused at least 8 deaths and sparked hundreds of water rescues, officials said.
- Is another hurricane coming?: Milton was the 13th named storm of the hurricane season, and NOAA forecast 17 to 25 named storms for this year. The next hurricane could be called Nadine, but as of Thursday, the National Hurricane Center wasn’t monitoring any developing storm systems near the U.S.
Kamala Harris pledges federal help to Florida officials in the wake of Helene and Milton
Vice President Kamala Harris is pledging to those who have been affected by Hurricane Milton that “we will be with you every step of the way as you recover and rebuild.”
Harris spoke at a rally in Chandler, Arizona, on Thursday night, saying the hurricane “has cut a path of devastation across Florida” right on the heels of Hurricane Helene.
Harris said that she had spoken with Republican and Democratic local officials to pledge ongoing federal help, adding, “That is who we are.”
Milton was not as destructive as expected, FEMA official says
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Thursday that Milton’s impact was not as destructive as feared, but she is heading out Friday to see damage from some of the tornadoes that touched down in the Florida.
“We did not have the extreme impacts of the worst case scenario that we prepared for, but there’s still so many people that have been impacted by this,” she said at a press briefing in Sarasota.
She said the 38 twisters that touched down in the state cause “significant damage to a level that Floridians have not seen from tornadoes,” she said.
On Thursday, she toured flooded roads and debris, some of which was left from Hurricane Helene, she said.
I-75 south is crowded with people returning after fleeing Milton
A flood of vehicles headed south Thursday evening on Interstate 75, the main highway that runs through the middle of Florida, as relief workers and evacuated residents headed towards the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
At times, some cars even drove on the left-hand shoulder of the road, adding an extra travel lane to the highway. Cars, bucket trucks and fuel tankers streamed by, along with portable bathroom trailers and a convoy of emergency vehicles from the Bay and Escambia County Sheriff’s Offices.
As residents raced south to find out whether their homes were destroyed or spared, finding gas was still a challenge, with fuel stations still closed as far away as Ocala, more than a two and a half hour drive north of where the storm made landfall.
Milton’s ‘reverse surge’ sucked water away from flood-fearing Tampa
In the hours before Hurricane Milton hit, forecasters were worried it could send as much as 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water rushing onto the heavily populated shores of Florida’s Tampa Bay.
Instead, several feet of water temporarily drained away.
Why? “Reverse storm surge” is a familiar, if sometimes unremarked-upon, function of how hurricane winds move seawater as the storms hit land — in fact, it has happened in Tampa Bay before.
▶ Read more about how reverse storm surge works.
NOAA releases award-winning hurricane scientist’s ashes into Milton’s eye
As an award-winning scientist, Peter Dodge had made hundreds of flights into the eyes of hurricanes — almost 400.
On Tuesday, a crew on a reconnaissance flight into Hurricane Milton helped him make one more, dropping his ashes into the storm as a lasting tribute to the longtime National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radar specialist and researcher.
“It’s very touching,” Dodge’s sister, Shelley Dodge, said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. “We knew it was a goal of NOAA to make it happen.”
The ashes were released into the eye of the hurricane Tuesday night, less than 24 hours before Milton made landfall in Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida. An in-flight observations log, which charts information such as position and wind speed, ended with a reference to Dodge’s 387th — and final — flight.
▶ Read more about Peter Dodge and his final flight.
Animals at a zoo and an aquarium in Tampa are faring well after the storm
A spokesperson for ZooTampa said Thursday all 1,000 animals at the zoo are safe and will remain in their night houses and hurricane shelter locations while habitats are cleared of debris. The Florida Aquarium in Tampa also confirmed their animals are “doing well.”
The zoo sustained some damage from the high winds and does not have power, and the spokesperson anticipates the debris cleanup and restoration, which is already underway, will take a few days.
The Florida Aquarium’s buildings in downtown Tampa and Apollo Beach also “appear to have minor weather-related damage,” the aquarium said in a Thursday press release.
As of Thursday afternoon, both the aquarium and the zoo aim to reopen Saturday, depending on when power is restored.
Penguins in Florida Aquarium moved to higher ground ahead of Hurricane Milton
Coast Guard rescues a man clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico
A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man who was left clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico after his boat was stranded overnight in waters roiled by Hurricane Milton.
The man’s fishing vessel had been disabled Monday off Madeira Beach, Florida, and he was working to repair it Wednesday, hours before the hurricane made landfall, said Coast Guard press officer Nicole Groll. The man, who was not identified, was able to radio the Coast Guard station in nearby St. Petersburg before contact was lost about 6:45 p.m.
But on Thursday searchers located the man about 30 miles (48 kilometers) off Longboat Key, Florida, clinging to an open cooler chest, a video clip provided by the Coast Guard shows. In the video, a Coast Guard diver was lowered from a helicopter and swam to the man to pick him up.
The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical treatment, the Coast Guard said. The fate of his boat was unknown. A hospital spokesperson was not able to provide a condition without the man’s name.
Correction: This entry has been updated to correct when the man’s fishing vessel became inoperative. It was disabled Monday, not Wednesday. The man had been working to repair it Wednesday.
All warnings related to Milton have been discontinued
The U.S. National Hurricane Center discontinued all storm surge and tropical storm warnings related to Milton, now a post-tropical cyclone, as of their latest and final advisory.
Milton was located about 220 miles (335 kilometers) northeast of Great Abaco Island, one of the Bahama’s northmost islands, and was moving east away from Florida’s coastline at 21 mph (33 kph) as of 5 p.m. Thursday. It has sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) and was expected to continue weakening, the hurricane center said.
Hurricane Milton spawned destructive, deadly tornadoes before making landfall
Multiple powerful tornadoes ripped across Florida hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday, tearing off roofs, overturning vehicles and sucking debris into the air as the black V-shaped columns moved through.
Dozens of tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Milton caught many Floridians by surprise as they braced for heavy rain, strong winds and especially storm surges. Violent twisters were seen crossing highways, ripping off roofs and downing trees and power lines.
There have been 38 preliminary eyewitness reports of tornadoes since Wednesday night, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Prediction Center. Florida sees a total of 50 tornadoes on average in a whole year. The number confirmed is expected to rise over the coming days as damaged sites are assessed.
The eyewitness reports came as the National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings in the state Wednesday.
“Certainly that will be a notable part of this storm, was how many tornadoes occurred within such a short period,” said Matthew Elliott, warning coordination meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center.
▶ Read more about Milton’s tornadoes.
Gov. DeSantis praises Florida’s resilience

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, center, Kevin Guthrie, left, Executive Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Fla. Rep. Toby Overdorf take questions during a news conference in front of a St. Lucie County Sheriff’s parking facility that was damaged by a tornado spawned ahead of Hurricane Milton destroyed it, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Fort Pierce. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
“You face two hurricanes in a couple of weeks — not easy to go through — but I’ve seen a lot of resilience throughout this state,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Thursday afternoon briefing in Sarasota.
“When you’re a Floridian, you kind of just know that these are things that can happen and you roll with it and you just kind of deal with it,” he said.
“I’ve seen a lot of grit, I’ve seen a lot of determination and I’m very confident that this area is going to bounce back very, very quickly.”
Resident made it though Milton in a home built by his father to withstand hurricanes
Christian Burke’s late father built their three-story concrete home overlooking the bay to withstand a Category 5 storm. On Wednesday night, Burke, his mother and his aunt defied mandatory evacuation orders and rode out Hurricane Milton in that home to test it, watching the storm crash ashore through the near-panoramic view out their third floor windows.
“Looking out, all we could see is just these sheets — it wasn’t raining — it was these sheets of rainwater flying by us in every direction,” he said. “Movies don’t do it justice.”
Burke had been bracing for 7 or 8 feet of storm surge in the first floor of his home, and had been warily eyeing a sailboat Hurricane Helene had left had left stranded on the sidewalk across the street two weeks ago, hoping the waves wouldn’t dash it against his house.
But the surge never came, the boat didn’t budge, and his home has virtually no damage — a testament to his father’s legacy as a builder, Burke said.
“There was no other reason to be here than for that,” he said. “Other than honoring his legacy and showing that he did what he did. He built what he built.”
That said, Burke said he doesn’t need to ride out another storm at home. He’s made his point.
“I felt like I’d just been through an incredible roller-coaster ride,” he said.
“But it’s over. I’m done. I’ll get off now,” he said.“If this happened again, I know the house is great,” he said, “but maybe I’ll just find a hotel somewhere.”
HCA Florida had to evacuate about 235 patients at its Largo hospital after the basement flooded
David Verinder, CEO of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, estimates the hospital has supported and cared for 4,000 people during the hurricane’s course — including seven babies that were delivered as the storm swept through the region.
Both of the system’s campuses are on high ground and came out relatively unscathed despite heavy winds, rain and surges — the worst of which were in Sarasota, not Tampa as predicted.
Still, Tampa General Hospital, the region’s only Level 1 trauma center, deployed its “aqua fence” for the second time in two weeks to prevent flooding.
Cape Canaveral Hospital sustained damage from tornadoes on Florida’s east coast, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, but officials are optimistic that the damage “is not significant.”
Florida hospitals generally fared “extremely well” during Hurricane Milton, Mayhew said. Twenty-one facilities in total evacuated prior to the storm.
Gov. DeSantis says at least 340 people and 49 pets have been rescued in ongoing search-and-rescue operations
At a Thursday afternoon briefing in Sarasota, DeSantis said that after flying over some of the hard-hit areas, he saw that many of the homes built in recent years fared well in the storm.
“Another thing I think I can say — our buildings that were built in the last 20 or 30 years, they did very well,” he said.
Tampa International Airport plans to reopen Friday, although Milton damaged six jet bridges used to board planes
Also, crews are repairing leaks in the main terminal.
The airport said the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the control tower to resume full operations, roads and parking garages are in good shape, and there are no issues with the wastewater system. The airport’s fuel depot lost power and is running on generator power while repairs are underway.
Tampa police officers on Thursday morning discovered the body of a woman in her 70s underneath a tree branch
The officers were investigating reports of a large tree branch that had fallen when they found the woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said the death appeared to be the result of post-hurricane restoration efforts. The woman’s name wasn’t immediately released.
“Although the storm has passed, its devastation has tragically taken the life of one of our community members,” the police chief said.
President Biden says he wants Congress to act as quickly as possible to approve more disaster response funding
But he stopped short of saying he’d order lawmakers to return from recess early.
Speaking to reporters at the White House about the federal response to Hurricane Milton’s destruction, Biden singled out urgent funding needed by the Small Business Administration, which offers low-cost loans to businesses damaged in storms.
“I think, in terms of the SBA, it’s pretty right at the edge right now,” Biden said. “And I think the Congress should be coming back and moving on emergency needs immediately.”
But asked directly if he was ordering Congress to return early, Biden was noncommittal, saying only, “I think congress should move as rapidly as they can.”
In Punta Gorda, Milton’s storm surge leaves boats in the street
In Punta Gorda’s historic district, a 10-foot surge from the Peace River swept blocks inland, seriously damaging homes and depositing six 30-foot-plus boats along a quarter-mile stretch of a riverside street.
The surge was the third to hit the neighborhood the last three months, following a small surge by Hurricane Debby in August and an 8-foot surge by Helene two weeks ago.
Josh Baldwin’s 38-foot boat, Alexandra, named after his young daughter, was sitting upright on the street, resting on its hull and flattened propeller, leaning against a utility pole. One side had a large gash and along with the propeller, the shaft and other running gear were ruined. The cattle rancher had moored his boat at the marina about 100 yards away and the surge had picked it up and pushed it inland, pulling it off its moorings.
He said he was at home in Sarasota, 60 miles away Thursday morning, when a friend sent him a screenshot of a TV reporter doing a live shot from in front of it.
A few hours later, he was inside removing all the gear he could to avoid it being stolen and contemplating his options — pay $100,000 to fix the boat or scrap it. He was leaning toward scraping it.
He couldn’t get insurance because he had moored it in Punta Gorda.
“They don’t like to pay out and this place always gets ruined in hurricanes,” he said.
President Biden is again criticizing Donald Trump for spreading misinformation about the federal government’s hurricane response
Addressing reporters Thursday about Hurricane Milton’s destruction, Biden said he wouldn’t call Trump directly. But when asked what his message would be for Trump, Biden squared his shoulders and more directly faced the camera.
“Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life man,” Biden said. “Help these people.”
The White House, and Biden personally, have spent days decrying Trump for making false claims about disaster response, including that federal funding is being diverted for use on people in the country illegally and that such assistance is capped at $750.
There are early indications of heavy storm surge damage to inundated areas in Charlotte County
“Inundation in excess of what we saw from Hurricane Helene a short while ago,” Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller said Thursday afternoon during an update on damage from Hurricane Milton.
Fuller said power outages in the county, southeast of Tampa, peaked overnight at just over 97,000 and that there were just over 72,000 outages as of 2 p.m. Thursday. Two of three area hospitals were working to reopen. The third hospital was damaged by Hurricane Helene and will remain closed during repairs, Fuller said.
Milton’s landfall marked the 6th time in history that Florida had three hurricanes make landfall in a single year
That’s according to Colorado State University senior research scientist Phil Klotzbach.
The others were in 1871, 1886, 1964, 2004 and, 2005.
In 2004, the state nearly had four hurricanes make landfall in a single year, Klotzbach said. But while Charley, Frances and Jeanne made landfall in Florida, Ivan made landfall in Alabama, just west of the Alabama-Florida border.
In Fort Pierce, residents cleaning up debris after neighborhood damaged by tornadoes
In Fort Pierce, Debbie Jones and her son’s girlfriend Megan Brown were cleaning up debris outside the house in Holiday Pines, a neighborhood damaged by tornadoes Wednesday afternoon ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall.
Jones said she was playing a card game in the house with her son, and Brown said she was working remotely in the back room of the house when suddenly the power went out. Jones’ son and his girlfriend both live in Tampa, and they’ve been staying with her for the past few weeks to evacuate from their apartment for hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Jones said she felt a pressure drop, and her ears were popping. At that moment, she knew it was a tornado.
“All of a sudden, the the power went out. I started hearing the wind pick up and debris start hitting very loudly. So I cranked the hurricane shutters shut and bolted out of there with them,” Brown said. From there, the entire family and their four dogs barricaded in the back of the house away from windows.
Jones said her property didn’t have any damage aside from piles of debris and she said a tree looked like it ripped off the ground next to her yard.
“We knew that there were warnings out because we kept getting them on the phone, but didn’t know it was going to happen,” Jones said of the tornadoes. “After it had happened and everybody’s kind of walking out scratching your head, it’s like, ‘Oh good, now we have a hurricane to deal with.’”
Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World say they’ll reopen Friday after assessing Milton’s effects
Universal Orlando and SeaWorld also say they’ll open their gates Friday.
Disney World said in a statement that its theme parks, Disney Springs, and possibly other areas will be open.
All three parks had shut down for at least part of Wednesday and all of Thursday. The parks said some Halloween special events won’t be offered and they won’t necessarily be fully functioning, but the public is welcome back.
Rays say it may take weeks to fully assess damage at Tropicana Field after Milton struck the region
The Tampa Bay Rays said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done to Tropicana Field, which saw its roof ripped to shreds by the force of Hurricane Milton as the deadly storm barreled across Florida.
The team said no one was injured when the St. Petersburg ballpark was struck by the storm Wednesday night. A handful of “essential personnel” were inside Tropicana Field as the roof panels were blown apart, much of the debris falling on the field and seats below.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we expect to be able to assess the true condition of Tropicana Field,” the Rays said Thursday. “In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement to secure the building. We ask for your patience at this time, and we encourage those who can to donate to organizations in our community that are assisting those directly impacted by these storms.”
Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic were planning to spend Thursday in San Antonio and return home Friday, a day behind their original schedule for the week. The Magic played a preseason game in San Antonio on Wednesday night. They intended to fly home Thursday, arriving in Orlando in the early afternoon — those plans being scrapped because of Milton.
Also, a pair of college football games are set to be played Saturday in cities that dealt with some of Milton’s worst wind and rain, though there were some logistical issues that were still being discussed Thursday in the aftermath of the storm.
▶ Read more about the storm’s effects on sports teams.
Tropical storm conditions and storm surge are still occurring over portions of the southeastern coast of the US
The center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Milton continues to move away from the east coast of Florida and pass north of the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday afternoon.
Milton had maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph (120 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.
Storm surge and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued south of the Flagler-Volusia County Line. It is, however, in effect for northward to Altamaha Sound in Georgia, including the St. Johns River. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Flagler-Volusia County line northward to Edisto Beach in South Carolina.
The government of the Bahamas has discontinued the Tropical Storm Warning for the extreme northwestern Bahamas.
The Pentagon says the military is working to respond to Hurricane Milton after it hit Florida
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Thursday that more than 6,500 members of the Florida National Guard have been activated and an additional 3,000 from 19 states are ready to offer support.
He says 500-plus high-water vehicles, 26 helicopters and more than a dozen watercraft from 12 states have been mobilized for recovery from the storm.
And the Army Corps of Engineers has about 250 personnel working on temporary roof support, debris and flooding control, and more.
When are airports expected to reopen?
Hurricane Milton not only caused thousands of flight cancellations and delays, but it also shuttered most of Florida’s major airports. Here’s a list of when they’re expected to reopen:
Orlando International Airport
- The airport announced it ceased commercial operations ahead of the storm Wednesday and said it would resume as soon as it’s safe, based on damage assessments, according to a post on X.
Palm Beach Airport
- The Palm Beach International Airport announced on their website that it experienced no major damage to its facilities and it planned to resume operations Thursday at 1 p.m. for arriving flights.
Southwest Florida International Airport
- As of 8:30 a.m. Thursday, the airport announced on its website that it would remain closed and would resume operations Friday.
Tampa International Airport
- A news release from the airport said staff are inspecting the condition of the airfield and facilities to determine when it will be safe to reopen. It plans to announce a reopening plan later Thursday, after the inspection has been completed.
Miami International Airport
- The Miami International Airport wasn’t in the direct path of the hurricane and remains open. However, it announced in a Facebook post that it’s seeing some cancellations and delays due to the weather.
A last minute evacuation saved one family whose roof was peeled off
Natasha Ducre and her husband Terry are feeling lucky to be alive after Hurricane Milton peeled the tin roof off of their modest cinderblock home in this working class neighborhood a few blocks north of the Manatee River, about a 45 minute drive south of Tampa.
Terry had resisted evacuating the three-bedroom house where he grew up and where the couple lived with their three kids and two grandkids. But as the storm barreled towards them Wednesday night, Natasha pushed him to leave — a decision she believes saved their lives.
“I said, ‘baby, we got to go. Because we’re not going to survive this’,” Natasha said.
“Imagine being in a house with no ceiling, no roof, no protection, nothing. At winds at 100 and what? No, I don’t think we’d still be here,” she said.
The tin roof of their home is now scattered in sheets across the street, the wooden beams of what was their ceiling exposed to the sky. Inside, fiberglass insulation hangs down in shreds, their belongings soaked by the rain and littered with chunks of shattered drywall.
“It ain’t much but it was ours. What little bit we did have is gone,” Natasha said. “It’s gone.”
The family was able to salvage a few things but said nearly everything else they own is destroyed. And none of it is insured.
The family said they and other evacuees were told they couldn’t continue to stay at the storm shelter Thursday night. As of Thursday afternoon, Manatee County’s website listed no open shelters. The cost of a hotel room is out of reach, they said, so they’ll all be cramming into Terry’s mother’s house for now. After that, they don’t know.
“I don’t have no answers,” Natasha said. “What is my next move? What am I going to do?”
Correction: This post has been updated to correct the last name of the couple whose home was severely damaged. It is Ducre, not Shannon.
Hurricane Milton has caused thousands of flight cancellations
Thousands of flights in and out of the U.S. have been canceled this week as Hurricane Milton barreled into the Gulf of Mexico and plowed across Florida — causing many airports to close their doors in the path of destruction.
And airlines across the country grounded flights as a result. There were more than 2,250 U.S. flight cancellations as of midday Thursday, according to tracking service FlightAware, following 1,970 on Wednesday.
After battering the southeastern U.S. and parts of Cuba Wednesday, the hurricane moved into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. Dangers still persist — with officials pointing to storm-surge warnings for much of Florida’s east-central coast and farther north into Georgia, for example, as well as tropical storm warnings reaching South Carolina. That means travel disruptions across the region will likely continue.
▶ Read more about flight cancellations.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas condemned hate speech and false information following Helene and Milton
Speaking at a White House briefing, Mayorkas said falsehoods are having a negative effect on survivors and hurting the morale of rescue workers. He noted a particular falsehood that federal employees will take the land of the people they’re helping, meaning that some victims of the storms are reticent to receive aid.
Mayorkas said the government is " seeing horrific hate speech of all types, propagated on online platforms” pertaining to people trying to help address the damage from the storm as it’s been “a motivating force for people to do harm and it has got to stop.”
Central Florida resident awakened by a tree hitting her apartment building
After keeping vigil most of the night for Hurricane Milton’s arrival in central Florida, Joella Krzyzanski was drifting off to sleep when she heard a boom around 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Looking out the window, she saw that an enormous 60-foot oak tree had smashed into a second-floor unit of her two-story garden apartment building in downtown Sanford. Her unit was downstairs from it. The impact shook the building and uprooted the sidewalk.
“It was almost like an explosion when it hit,” she said. “I was up like a light.” No one was hurt, and Krzyzanski said she will miss that tree.
“Storms happen,” she said. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
How to help people affected by Hurricane Milton
Here’s some advice from experts about how to help:
— Send cash: The needs of people and organizations are evolving and won’t be fully known for days or weeks. Cash offers responders flexibility and can immediately be deployed to help.
— Give to charities already working in impacted communities: Local branches of the United Way will be directly serving people in the immediate aftermath of the storms. The Red Cross is also providing immediate shelter for tens of thousands of Floridians. They also urged people in areas proximate to the hurricane’s trajectory to donate blood if they are able. Grassroots and worker organizations, like those that serve immigrants, have already been providing critical information, translation and support to groups that may struggle to access state or government services.
— Consider waiting or signing up for recurring donations: It can often take months to truly scope the needs and challenges after disasters, especially as warming oceans caused by climate change are making hurricanes more intense. Communities face a long journey to recovery. Signing up to give even small donations regularly to local organizations helps those nonprofits plan, which can allow them to act more efficiently and effectively.
▶ Read more about how to help.
WATCH: Milton leaves some Orlando streets flooded
Residents in Orlando, Florida awoke Thursday to some flooded and impassable streets after Hurricane Milton barreled through overnight.
Actors Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have given $1 million to relief efforts for hurricanes Milton and Helene
Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot announced the donation from the “Gossip Girl” star and her “Deadpool” star husband in an Instagram post Thursday. They’re the latest celebrities to make a seven-figure donation after Taylor Swift gave $5 million earlier.
Hurricane Milton’s winds topple a crane that was building a 46-story condominium and office building
The mayor in St. Petersburg, Florida, warned residents cranes at several construction projects across the city might fall in Hurricane Milton and at the storm’s peak Wednesday night, one came crashing down.
No one was injured when the crane working on a 46-story condominium and office building — which will be the tallest residential tower on Florida’s Gulf coast — crashed into a nearby building where the Tampa Bay Times is located.
But the twisted metal gouged a hole where part of it came to rest in the brick and concrete on one corner of the building. Wires dangled down and bits of office items were strewn about. Another part of the crane blocked the street below. Nearby, Milton’s winds tore panels off the roof of Tropicana Field where baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays play.
No one was working in the newspaper office at the time of the collapse. City officials blocked off several blocks until they can completely assess the damage and begin working to remove the toppled and twisted crane.
▶ Read more about the toppled crane.
Republican US Sen. Rick Scott toured some of the storm damage
He said during a news conference in Lee County that he’s spoken with President Joe Biden, who pledged federal assistance for storm recovery efforts.
“He agreed with me that Congress needs to come back” to provide funding for federal agencies that respond to disasters, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.
“We’ve got to get FEMA centers open all across the state closest to the people that are injured,” Scott said.
Sheriff Carmine Mancino said there have been no deaths reported in the county that includes Fort Myers, about 95 miles (153 kilometers) southeast of Tampa despite a tornado that struck the barrier islands.
County Commissioner Brian Hamman said there’s damage to homes in the area, but many are occupied by “snowbirds,” people who live in the area during the winter when temperatures are warmer than the colder northern states where they live during summer, and were not present.
WATCH: Bradenton Beach police chief relieved to see his town for the first time after Hurricane Milton
The Bradenton Beach police chief says there wasn’t a storm surge there from Hurricane Milton, with the area mostly getting wind damage, including at least one house off its pilings. Most, if not all, of the residents evacuated. (AP video: Haven Daley, Carrie Antlfinger)
In west Florida’s Pasco County, approximately 60 people have been rescued from rising water, law enforcement officials say
The hardest hit areas include Cypress Creek and the Anclote River in Elfers. Both areas are currently forecast to be at a major flood stage.
President Biden spoke with several Florida officials following the impacts of Hurricane Milton across the Florida Peninsula
Those officials included Sen. Rick Scott, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward, Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Pasco County Chair Ron Oakley.
The White House says the president told each of them to call him directly if they need additional assistance on rescue, response, and recovery efforts. Biden also emphasized that he will be with them and their communities – no matter how long it takes.
The White House says Biden will continue to be briefed about federal response and recovery efforts in the wake of both hurricanes Milton and Helene throughout the day.
Property owner on Anna Maria Island says back-to-back hurricanes don’t give him pause
One of the largest property owners on Anna Maria Island said two back-to-back hurricanes doesn’t give him pause about continuing to invest in the barrier island community.
With damage from Hurricane Milton less than what many feared, Shawn Kaleta said he expects guests to return to his rental properties as early as next Friday or Saturday.
“It’s just a time for the community to rally and get together,” he said. “The spirit of the island residents seems to be strong.”
Kaleta, who owns hotels, rental homes, restaurants and a trailer park, said his newly constructed houses — built to Florida’s robust building code — fared well under the hurricane-force winds, as designed. Meanwhile, many of the community’s beach bungalows were blown apart by Helene, and then battered again by Milton.
“The quaint Old Florida … they’re adorable,” he said, trailing off.
But many of those charming homes, which give places like Anna Maria Island their character, just can’t withstand these back-to-back storms.
“Sometimes you have to embrace what Mother Nature hands you.”
Gov. DeSantis said he spoke with President Joe Biden on Thursday morning
“He said he wants to be helpful, ” DeSantis said.
“He wants to help us get the job done,” he added.
It’s too early to tell how many tornadoes touched down in Fort Pierce on Wednesday or how strong they were
Jessie Schaper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida, said officials plan to begin their survey Friday, but it might take some time before results are released.
Gov. DeSantis says the worst-case scenario did not happen
“It doesn’t mean there’s not going be a lot of damage, it doesn’t mean there’s not going to be a lot we’re going to have to contend with,” he said. “But, just in terms of what we were prepped for, I think we probably have an abundance of resources.”
Gov. DeSantis: ‘We’ve got to keep bringing fuel into this state’
“We’re also assessing the need for points of distribution. We typically will set up pods with water, food, tarps, things of that nature,” DeSantis said.
“I also think you’re probably going to see a lot of the stores and gas stations reopen fairly quickly -- at least that’s our hope,” he added.
“We’ve got to keep bringing fuel into this state,” he said.
“We don’t have confirmed reports of other fatalities throughout the rest of the state, but we may as the day goes on.”
5 fatalities have been confirmed from Hurricane Milton
“As people know we’ve had massive power outages, which was expected,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a noon Thursday briefing. “I’d say this is probably similar to hurricane Ian and Irma in terms of the number of outages.”
North Carolina governor signs Hurricane Helene relief bill
FILE- North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, and Deanne Criswell, Administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, await the arrival of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris for a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Oct. 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, file)
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday signed the state’s first relief package to address Hurricane Helene’s devastation, allocating $273 million for immediate needs and giving flexibility to agencies and displaced residents.
The Democrat signed the measure, approved unanimously Wednesday by the Republican-dominated General Assembly. Nearly all the money will serve as the state’s share that’s needed to meet the federal government’s match for state and local disaster assistance programs. Other money will be used in part to ensure public-school nutrition employees at closed schools get paid and to help officials administer elections in the coming weeks.
“Recovery for Western North Carolina will require unprecedented help from state and federal sources and this legislation is a strong first step,” Cooper said in a news release. The legislature also agreed separately Wednesday to return to Raleigh on Oct. 24, when action on additional recovery legislation is expected.
▶ Read more about the Helene relief legislation.
Where did Milton make landfall and where did it go next?
Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, a barrier island of white sand beaches about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of the Tampa Bay area, sparing a direct hit on the area that’s home to over 3.3 million people.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sarasota County, where Siesta Key is located, appears to have gotten the worst storm surge at 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3 meters). That’s lower than the worst place during Helene though.
By Thursday morning, Milton — weakened to a Category 1 storm, but still dangerous — had moved off Florida’s east coast.
PHOTOS: Destruction and aftermath from Hurricane Milton
WATCH: Hurricane Milton lands on Florida’s Gulf Coast as Category 3 storm, AP explains
Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, deadly storm surge and potential flooding to much of the state. (AP video by Kate Payne)
The barrier island of Matlacha was hit with a tornado and surge from Milton
The tiny barrier island of Matlacha, just off Fort Myers, got hit by both a tornado and surge from Milton, with many of the buildings sustaining serious damage.
Several collapsed or were knocked off their pilings. Utility poles snapped and there was no power Thursday morning. The fishing and tourism village also got severely hit by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago and Ian two years ago.
Ninety-year-old Tom Reynolds spent Thursday morning sweeping out the 4 feet of mud and water the surge deposited in his two-story home and collecting the large chunks of his home’s aluminum siding that had been ripped off by the tornado. Fortunately for Reynolds and others working outside Thursday, the temperatures were in the low 80s (mid-20s Celsius) and Milton had sucked away all the humidity.
The tornado, he said, had “picked up a car and thrown it across the road.” A house had been blown into another street, temporarily blocking it. Some structures caught fire.
Reynolds, who founded the glass and mirror company his son now runs, said he lost many of his power tools – he had stored them high in his shed, but the surge knocked it over.
He said plans to clean up his house, which he built three decade ago, get it fixed and stay.
“What else am I going to do?” Reynolds said.
More than 100 residents were rescued from an assisted living facility in Tampa
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue were out with amphibious equipment and the marine unit rescuing residents, Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a video.
The video shows deputies in nearly waist-deep water outside the facility and residents with walkers being carried away on boats. The video shows flooded streets and parking lots and rescue workers with a boat floating next to a partially submerged flight of stairs helping an apartment building resident in a life jacket wrap up her cat.
Chronister can be seen offering to take a person in a home surrounded by floodwaters to dry ground.
“This is extraordinary to see this type of flooding, especially in this type of area. The University of South Florida area is normally a dry area,” Chronister said in the video. “To see this unprecedented flooding, I can only imagine how scary it was.”