At least 16 dead in storm-battered Florida after Hurricane Milton, rescue and recovery efforts continue

Hurricane-weary Floridians resumed their usual routine Friday — assessing storm damage and clearing mud and debris — a day after Hurricane Milton ripped through the state, flooding low-lying barrier islands and inland communities on the densely populated central West Coast and spawned deadly tornadoes to the east.

At least 16 people died from tornadoes, falling trees, downed power lines, destroyed vehicles or medical emergencies after Milton hit the state with high winds and rain.

In just 24 hours, Milton dropped more than 18 inches of rain on St. Petersburg – a rain event that occurs in the region more than once in 1,000 years, according to the National Weather Service.

And the risk of flooding had still not been averted.

In Dover and Lithia, small communities about 20 miles inland from Tampa, rescue teams plunged into murky brown water to rescue seniors and families trapped in flooded homes as the Alafia River swelled. In some homes, water rose up to 6 feet, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

“Where is everyone?” shouted a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office rescue worker Friday morning as he waded into a flooded home in Dover. Armchairs, sneakers and cushions rocked in the living room. “How many people? 1, 2, 3…”

There was a family of eight inside, including a child.

“Hey, if you have any problems, let someone know,” the rescue worker told residents as they held on to a yellow rope with buoys and were carried outside to safety.

After making landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, a barrier island in Sarasota County, Milton raced east with strong winds and tornadoes that uprooted trees, snapped power lines, overturned semi-trucks and tossed homes off their foundations .

As of Friday afternoon, long after Milton left the peninsula, more than 1.3 million people were under a coastal flood warning, according to the weather service. The service forecast moderate to major river flooding in Central Florida and the St. Johns River basin over the weekend and the coming weeks.

Milton was the third hurricane to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast this year. On August 5, Debby, a Category 1 hurricane, made landfall near Steinhatchee, Florida, a sparsely populated area of ​​the Big Bend region. On September 26, Helene, a stronger Category 4 hurricane, caused catastrophic flooding and damaging winds across a large section of the Gulf Coast before moving north across Georgia and North Carolina.

Climate researchers from World Weather Attribution, a group that studies extreme weather events, said in a report Friday that extreme precipitation events like Milton “are 20 to 30% more intense and about twice as likely in today’s climate.” [which] is 1.3°C warmer than it would have been without human-caused climate change.”

President Biden said Friday that damage from Milton, the third major storm to hit Florida in three months, is expected to cost nearly $50 billion.

“I want everyone in the affected areas to know that we will do everything we can to help you pick up the pieces and get back to where you were,” Biden said at a news conference.

But as evidence mounts that hurricanes are strengthening more quickly and storm surges are becoming more destructive due to sea level rise, some are questioning the wisdom of rebuilding on low-lying coastal areas.

“We’re seeing more frequent rapid intensification and more Category 4 and 5 storms, and a lot of that is simply due to the fact that the Gulf of Mexico and the world’s oceans are heating up so much,” said Ben Kirtman, a professor of atmospheric sciences the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science at the University of Miami.

Kirtman said Floridians should reconsider rebuilding on barrier islands.

“When you think about how we’re going to have to deal with the challenges of climate change here — not just more Category 4 or 5 storms, but also sea level rise and more storm surges — you have to think about how you’re going to build,” said Kirtman. “I think Florida is a beautiful place. Should people continue to live here and enjoy life? Absolutely. But we have to be smart so we can build resilient communities.”

Asked Friday whether Floridians should be prevented from rebuilding in low-lying areas, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answered “no.”

“The reality is that people work hard to be able to live in an environment that is really, really beautiful, and they have the right to make those decisions about their property as they see fit,” said DeSantis at a press conference in St. Petersburg. “It is not the government’s job to prohibit or force them to dispose of or use their property in a way that they believe is not best for them.”

DeSantis said it was difficult for residents to endure back-to-back storms, but Floridians are very resilient. After Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022, he said, many people asked, “Will people want to live in Southwest Florida?”

“Within two weeks, people were buying up houses, people wanted to get down there,” DeSantis said. “So I think there will always be a demand to live in a beautiful part of the world.”

Many people on Florida’s west coast were relieved that Milton weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before it made landfall and did not trigger a record storm surge that would have destroyed their homes. But the familiar routine of evacuation and cleanup, as well as power and gas outages, shocked them.

After surveying the impact of Milton in Manatee County by helicopter, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Florida) said it was “truly devastating to see homes in such poor condition, torn on their sides, roofs ripped off, everywhere.” Sand and rubble.” ”

“A lot of houses almost fell into the water,” Buchanan said. “I’ve never seen it before, I’ve lived on the water for 30 years.”

More than 2 million customers in Florida remained without power as of Friday afternoon, according to Poweroutage.us, which tracks nationwide power outages. Three out of 10 gas stations across Florida were out of fuel.

In St. Petersburg’s low-lying Shore Acres neighborhood — a middle-class community with nurses and teachers — Garry Rosseter, the owner of a small window cleaning business, said he was unwilling to give up his modest two-bedroom mid-century bungalow a few blocks away from the water. He had lived there for almost a quarter of a century.

Milton rammed an oak tree into the window of his guest room. But the damage was not as severe as last month, when Helene’s water rose over the window sill of the one-story home, and not even as extensive as last year, when Hurricane Idalia flooded his home with 6 inches of water. For the last week he’s been arguing with his insurance company because the white cabinets he lost in Helene were the same color as the ones he lost in Idalia. They asked if he even had them replaced.

Rosseter, 68, thought his house was worth saving — even if all the doors, drywall and lower kitchen cabinets had to be replaced.

“You can’t sell it like that,” he said matter-of-factly as he cleared a table in his carport to make space for his repairs. “It’s just another renovation. I will not make an emotional decision based on this hurricane season.”

Right now, Rosseter is sleeping on his sister’s couch and waiting to hear if the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide him with an RV to park in his driveway while he makes repairs.

The $750 provided by FEMA, he said, was enough to fuel the car and feed him. But he couldn’t hire contractors until insurance money or other support came in.

On the north end of Longboat Key, Lynn and Steve Roberts were in good spirits as they walked around their two disaster-stricken townhouses, stepping around broken glass that came from one of their neighbor’s back windows.

A few weeks ago, Helene flooded the units with a storm surge of 20 centimeters. Milton did not cause further flooding, but it tore off the roof and left a piece dangling several dozen feet above in a nearby pine tree.

“It’s dry when it’s not raining,” joked Steve, a 65-year-old emergency room physician.

“I think we were due,” Lynn said, noting that in the 25 years they have lived in hurricane-prone South Carolina, the Panhandle and now southern Florida, they had never filed an insurance claim.

The couple bought the two units last year to rent out as an Airbnb.

Lynn, trying to stay busy and productive, pulled things out of the upper cabinets to take home since they had to be ripped out after the loss of the roof. An insurance adjuster would show up in three days, on her birthday. “This is my birthday present,” she said, laughing.

The couple said it was a shame to lose so much of their possessions, but they would not give it up.

“That’s why we bought it,” she said, pointing to the tranquil lagoon at the back of the property. “We love being on the water and it’s worth staying here for us. We’re not going anywhere.”

Both said they were grateful to have somewhere else to lay their heads at night, but knew others felt the brunt of both storms. “It’s an inconvenience for us,” she said. “For others, it was their livelihood.”

There is still potential for more storms before hurricane season ends in late November.

Matthew Rosencrans, head of seasonal hurricane outlook for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said it is still too early to say whether these storms will make landfall and, if so, where the greatest impact will be.

“We are seeing a relatively increased likelihood of tropical cyclone formation in the western Caribbean, south of Cuba,” Rosencrans said. “Storms there tend to move toward the Gulf of Mexico, although they can sweep directly from southwest to northeast.”

Times staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.