The death toll from Hurricane Milton increased to at least 16 this Friday, Florida authorities reported, as residents in the southern US state begin the process of rebuilding their lives and homes.
Nearly 2.5 million homes and businesses remained without power, and some storm-ravaged areas between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean remained flooded.
“Experts estimate (…) that it caused damage worth about $50 billion,” President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House, who assured that he will visit Florida on Sunday.
Milton hit Florida’s Gulf Coast Wednesday night as a Category 3 storm, with winds lashing communities still recovering from the deadly Hurricane Helene two weeks ago.
The Milton-related tornadoes appear to have caused more deaths than the flooding.
A study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network released this Friday concluded that the rains that accompanied Milton were between 20% and 30% more intense due to climate change, and the winds were 10% stronger.
Helene left 237 dead in her wake throughout the southeastern United States, including Florida.
– Scary –
On Siesta Key, a beautiful barrier island near Sarasota where the storm made landfall, Milton left a desolate landscape: Some streets were still flooded Friday, with downed trees and debris left strewn haphazardly on roadsides.
“It’s just terrible,” said John Maloney, 61, owner of a real estate remodeling company, as he removed tree branches from a seaside home he was working on. “But I think we will rebuild.”
And Mark Horner, a 67-year-old resident, was optimistic. “Our paradise will return,” he told AFP.
In Fort Pierce, a city on Florida’s Atlantic coast, four people were killed in a tornado generated by Milton.
“It was pretty scary,” said Susan Stepp, a 70-year-old resident. “They found some people dead outside, in a tree,” he told AFP. “I wish they had evacuated.”
Stepp’s husband, Bill, said a tornado threw their 22-ton motor home “to the other side of the yard.”
“It’s scary and heartbreaking at the same time to see so much damage and all the things you really love disappear, but they’re just things and we’re still here,” said the 72-year-old.
At least six people died in St. Lucie County, four in Volusia County, two in Pinellas County and one each in Hillsborough, Polk, Orange and Citrus counties, local officials said.
The storm downed power lines, ripped off the roof of the Tampa baseball stadium and flooded homes, but Florida was able to avoid the level of catastrophic devastation that authorities feared.
“The storm was significant, but fortunately this was not a worst-case scenario,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference.
The National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings across the state on Wednesday, the most issued for a single calendar day for the state in records dating back to 1986, wrote hurricane expert Michael Lowry.
“It’s not easy to think you have everything and suddenly you have nothing,” said Lidier Rodríguez, who was forced to leave his flooded apartment near Tampa Bay.
Search operations continued Friday, and the Coast Guard reported the spectacular rescue of a boat captain who weathered the storm clinging to a cooler in the Gulf of Mexico.
“This man survived a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced sailor,” Dana Grady, command center chief of the US Coast Guard’s Sector St. Petersburg, said in a statement.
– Electoral use –
Biden on Thursday urged people to stay home after the storm, as downed power lines and debris create dangerous conditions.
In a video posted on social media, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania were praying for Floridians affected by the storm and urged them to vote for him.
Hurricane Helene hit Florida late last month, and back-to-back storms have become election fodder.
Trump has spread conspiracy theories that Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are abandoning victims and diverting aid intended for them.