Hurricane Milton barrelled 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 tornadoes.
The storm caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.
The system tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112 kilometres) south of Tampa. Damage was widespread, and water levels may continue to rise for days, but Governor Ron DeSantis said it was not “the worst-case scenario”.
The deadly storm surge feared for Tampa never materialised, though the storm dumped up to 18 inches (45 centimetres) of rain in some parts of the area, the governor said. The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3 metres) — lower than in the worst place during Helene.
“We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses,” DeSantis said. “We’ve got more to do, but we will absolutely get through this.”
As dawn broke on Thursday, officials repeated that the danger had not passed: storm-surge warnings were posted for much of the east-central Florida coast and north into Georgia. Tropical storm warnings were in place along the coast into South Carolina. Officials in the hard-hit Florida counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges and flooding.
“We’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out,” Sheriff Chad Chronister of Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, said on Facebook.
Just inland from Tampa, the flooding in Plant City was “absolutely staggering,” according to City Manager Bill McDaniel. Emergency crews rescued 35 people overnight, said McDaniel, who estimated the city received 13.5 inches (34 cm) of rain.
“We have flooding in places and to levels that I’ve never seen, and I’ve lived in this community for my entire life,” he said in a video posted online Thursday morning.
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