Sixteen people killed by storm but state spared ‘worst-case scenario’ as accusations fly between political candidates
Authorities are urgently assessing the cost of Hurricane Milton after the deadly storm spawned tornadoes ahead of slamming into central Florida and then tearing across the state, leaving destroyed homes, streets blocked with downed power lines, fallen trees and debris.
At least 16 people have been killed by the storm, according to the Tampa Bay Times and recovery efforts continue, meaning the numbers could rise. The hurricane made landfall less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit north-west Florida and stayed over land as a tropical storm, with an unexpectedly high death toll of 230 people, the highest since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, and brought damage from flooding and high winds to 10 states.
Milton’s powerful and destructive weather system, which produced dozens of tornadoes in Florida on Wednesday, wrecked an estimated 150 homes, knocked out power to more than 3.3 million customers, swept over barrier islands with 6ft of storm surge, ripped the roof off a baseball stadium and toppled a 500ft construction crane.
A 14-year-old boy was found floating on a piece of fence and a coast guard helicopter crew rescued a man floating on an ice chest separated from his boat in the Gulf of Mexico – “a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner”, according to rescuers.
But Milton, which wobbled 70 miles south from where it was anticipated to make landfall, did not deliver the scale of destruction that authorities feared.
