Death toll from Hurricane Milton rises as Florida picks up the pieces from the storm’s destruction

Power and other utilities continue to slowly be restored across Florida after Hurricane Milton’s less than 12-hour trek across the state, leaving behind more than 4 million without electricity at its peak and neighborhoods flooded.

Milton is being blamed for at least 17 deaths across eight counties in Florida.

Hurricane Milton became a powerful Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall near Sarasota on Wednesday as a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Before the hurricane’s arrival, evacuation orders were issued for around 6 million residents, with officials warning the hurricane was on a trajectory to produce an unsurvivable storm surge around Tampa Bay.

Fortunately, due to a loss of storm organization and a track south of Tampa Bay, the city was spared from a significant surge, with a water rise of 5-10 feet reported between Bradenton and Englewood.

Despite the worst-case scenario for the state not playing out, more than a dozen deaths were attributed to the storm, with many caused by a tornado outbreak that left mobile home parks flattened.

Around 1,000 people were reported to be rescued from debris and floodwaters, as well as at least 100 animals, emergency managers said.

Power outages decline but millions still in the dark

Thousands of utility crews continue to work around the clock, and so far, have helped restore more than a million customers less than 24 hours after Milton’s landfall.

The majority of the nearly 3 million still without power are expected to be restored by the end of the workweek.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said about 50,000 linemen are working to restore power, especially around the Tampa metro, which appeared to be impacted the hardest hit with downed trees and powerlines.  

Wind gusts hit 101 mph in St. Petersburg and 98 mph in Tampa.

The ferocious winds tore the roof off St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, and toppled a massive crane from a building under construction in the downtown area. 

Milton unleashes deadly tornado outbreak

In addition to the hurricane-force winds and storm surge, Milton produced at least 50 tornadoes, including a significant twister that destroyed part of a senior community in St. Lucie County.

Officials were unsure of how many victims might still be trapped in the ruble as many residences are part-time living quarters and are predominantly used during the winter months.

First responders were seen going from home-to-home north of Fort Pierce in search for victims.

FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell happened upon tornado damage in Fort Myers.

“The front door blew inside the house. So, all of that breeze and that water was coming inside,” said a storm victim.

His street and many others were lined with large, snapped trees and debris that wasn’t there before the tornado.

National Weather Service offices have found preliminary evidence that some of the twisters might have been significant on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, receiving ratings greater than an EF-2.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, less than 1% of all tornadoes associated with tropical systems are rated EF-3 or higher.

Tuesday’s tornado outbreak was enhanced by the jet stream injecting energy and dry air around the system, causing significant twisters to develop in Milton’s outer bands.

FEMA resources strained by recent disasters

A combination of wildfires and hurricanes has stretched the Federal Emergency Management Agency thin, but the Department of Homeland Security assures that future disasters will receive a timely response.

According to the latest daily briefing, only 8% of FEMA’s workforce is unassigned, but both funding and personnel will be adjusted according to the needs of the American people. 

“We have the funds to address immediate needs. If we have to devote the resources that we have to immediate needs, we will do so at the expense of other efforts,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a Wednesday briefing.

Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30, leaving about a month and a half left for tropical cyclone development.

According to the FOX Hurricane Center, there are no immediate threats on the horizon, which will allow recovery efforts to go uninterrupted throughout hard-hit communities in the Southeast.

Milton’s intensity made it the fifth-strongest cyclone on record in the Atlantic Basin, only falling short of records held by Wilma (2005), Gilbert (1988) Labor Day (1935) and Rita (2005).