Residents across Florida have begun assessing the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Wednesday evening, killing at least eight people. The powerful storm, which spawned multiple deadly tornadoes, knocked out power to more than 3 million homes and businesses and destroyed thousands of properties across the state.
Five of the confirmed fatalities occurred near Fort Pierce, where homes were severely damaged by hurricane-force winds. The other deaths were caused by falling trees, highlighting the storm’s deadly impact on vulnerable structures and the environment.
Among the dramatic rescues was a man saved by a Coast Guard helicopter after being stranded overnight in the Gulf of Mexico. The man had been clinging to an ice chest in waters churned by Hurricane Milton, surviving waves as high as 7.6 meters. His fishing boat had been caught in the storm’s path, leaving him adrift until the rescue team arrived.
The hurricane’s winds tore the roof off a baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane, but the full extent of damage to homes and businesses remains unclear. However, many expressed relief that the storm’s impact was not worse, as it spared the major city of Tampa and a potentially deadly storm surge predicted by scientists failed to materialize.
Despite this, the devastation comes just two weeks after Florida was hit by Hurricane Helene, which killed around 227 people and caused widespread destruction. The back-to-back storms have left communities reeling.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addressed the state’s ongoing recovery efforts in a briefing held in Sarasota. “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,” he said. He also confirmed that at least 340 people and 49 pets have been rescued in ongoing efforts.
Approximately 80,000 people spent the night in shelters, and thousands more evacuated after authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties, home to about 7.2 million people.
With rescue operations ongoing and power companies working to restore electricity, the full recovery process is expected to take weeks, if not longer. As Florida braces for more extreme weather in the future, residents and officials alike are focusing on rebuilding and preparing for what’s to come.
