Floridians have recovered from: hurricane milton Debris was cleared Friday after the storm tore through coastal communities, shattering homes, flooding streets and killing people. deadly tornado. At least 16 people died as a result of the storm, officials told CBS News.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis warned people not to let down their guard, citing ongoing threats to safety, including downed power lines and flooded areas.
“We are now in an era of preventable deaths,” DeSantis said Friday. “You have to make the right decisions and know there are risks.”
It arrived just two weeks after the devastating Hurricane Helen, leaving barrier islands flooded and roofs torn off. Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Stadium and knocked over a construction crane. dozens of people rescued It was implemented throughout the country.
Lillian Bicart, 80, who was evacuated from Tampa, told “CBS Mornings” her home suffered significant damage from flooding.
“I have to sit down and think about what to do, because I’ve lost everything and everything is so wet,” Vicart said. “I never thought about it like that. It was a bad dream, a very bad dream.”
Tornadoes also caused extensive damage across central and southern Florida.
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“We’ve had hurricanes, but they’ve never been this bad,” Jashanti Williams, whose family was hiding in a bathroom as a tornado ripped through their neighborhood, told “CBS Morning.”
More than 2 million customers in Florida remained without power Friday morning as residents assessed property damage, according to Find Energy.
Southbound traffic flooded Thursday evening on Interstate 75, a major highway through the center of the state, as rescue workers and evacuated residents returned to survey the aftermath. Bucket trucks and fuel tanks, portable restroom trailers and convoys of emergency vehicles passed by.
As a resident tried to come back To find out if their homes were destroyed or if they survived. Finding gas was still a challenge. Gas stations remained closed as far as Ocala, more than a 2.5-hour drive north from where the storm made landfall as a Category 3 near Siesta Key in Sarasota County Wednesday night.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Natasha Ducre and her husband Terry felt lucky to be alive. Milton stripped the tin roof off a cinder block home in a neighborhood a few blocks north of the Manatee River, about a 45-minute drive south of Tampa. After refusing to evacuate the three-bedroom home where he grew up and where the couple lived with their three children and two grandchildren, she tried to leave as the storm bore down on them Wednesday night. She believes that decision saved their lives.
They returned to find the roof of the house scattered across the street and the wooden beams of the ceiling exposed to the sky. Inside, fiberglass insulation hung in pieces, and belongings were covered in chunks of rain-soaked, broken drywall.
“It’s not a lot, but it was ours. Every little thing we had is gone,” she said. “It’s gone.”
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
With no more shelter available and no longer able to afford hotel costs, they plan to cram into Terry Ducre’s mother’s house for now. After that, I’m not sure.
“There are no answers,” Natasha Ducre said. “What’s my next move? What am I going to do?”
Meanwhile, Florida theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld, planned to reopen Friday after assessing the impact of the storm.
Orlando International Airport, the state’s busiest, said domestic and international departures would resume Friday after domestic arrivals resumed Thursday evening. The airport suffered minor damage, including several water leaks and downed trees.
