JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Floridians awoke Thursday to significant damage caused by the second hurricane to hit the state in two weeks, but the destruction and storm surge from Milton was less severe than initially feared.
State, local and federal officials are now focused on the substantial cleanup efforts and restoring electricity to 4 million people.
“In this storm, some of the worst-case scenarios did not come to pass,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, stopping in Sarasota as he toured the state.
Milton made landfall late Wednesday near Siesta Key, a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Sarasota roughly 70 miles south of Tampa. It struck the state as a Category 3 hurricane, weakening from a Category 5 storm. Milton then weakened further to a Category 1 as it churned east across the state and out into the Atlantic Ocean early Thursday.
The storm diminished in intensity but expanded in size, causing a wider swath of damage. The diminished intensity also meant that wind destruction and storm surges weren’t catastrophic. Millions of Tampa area residents fled the region under evacuation orders this week.
The storm left at least 11 people dead, some killed during a string of tornadoes that spun off from the storm as it approached the west coast of the state.
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Mr. DeSantis said Florida is now focused on rescuing anyone who might be stranded, restoring electricity, road infrastructure and other services, and cleaning up tons of debris.
More than 50,000 power line workers are in Florida, some from as far away as California, he said, working to restore power. As of late Thursday, some electricity was restored but 3.2 million were still without power.
Top federal government officials were stationed in the state following criticism of their handling of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26 and caused catastrophic flooding in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.
FEMA Director Deanne Criswell, slammed for the disaster relief agency’s slow or lacking response to people impacted by Helene, toured Florida on Thursday and appeared alongside Mr. DeSantis. She promised rapid federal help for those seeking disaster aid and for money to speed up debris removal, which Mr. DeSantis complained was tangled up in FEMA bureaucracy following Helene.
Ahead of Milton, Mr. DeSantis used state transportation workers and equipment to haul away tons of debris left over from Helene, breaking into locked landfills to dispose of it in Pinellas County and other areas.
Ms. Criswell toured parts of the state including Siesta Key, which sustained some of the most significant damage.
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“These back-to-back storms are hard, and I know that there’s been a loss of life,” she said with Mr. DeSantis in Sarasota. “And when I brief the president and I give him updates, he continues to say, please make sure we’re giving Floridians everything that they need. And so part of my reason for being here on the ground is to make sure I can understand what the impacts are.”
Ms. Criswell promised that FEMA will be “flexible in how we execute our authorities” for emergency debris removal.
Mr. DeSantis warned that flash flooding remains a threat. Many residents lost their homes due to wind and water damage, and hundreds had to be rescued.
The storm ripped the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium. A large construction crane toppled into the Tampa Bay Times building.
Mr. DeSantis had marshaled thousands of workers and equipment ahead of the storm to be ready for what was threatening to be a historically devastating hurricane. It didn’t get quite that bad, but the state, now recovering from back-to-back hurricanes, will be working to repair and rebuild for months, if not years, from both Helene and Milton.
Mr. DeSantis visited Siesta Key earlier Thursday and said he saw grit and determination among residents.
“As much as I was looking at damage, at Siesta Key, I was looking at how nice it is, and how we’re going to be able to get that back up and running again, I think very, very quickly,” he said. “So we’ll do it. We’ll get it done.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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