Floridians in recovery hurricane miltonMuch of Saturday was spent searching for gasoline as fuel shortages swept the state, leaving many people fleeing hundreds of miles home to escape the storm.
In St. Petersburg, dozens of people lined up at a station without gasoline, hoping to arrive soon. Among them were Daniel Thornton and his nine-year-old daughter Magnolia, who arrived at the station at 7am and were still waiting four hours later.
“They said gas is coming, but they don’t know when the gas will be here,” he said. “I have no choice. I have to sit with her all day until the oil comes out.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Saturday morning that the state has opened three fuel distribution sites and plans to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons per person for free, he said.
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“Obviously, once the power is restored…and the Port of Tampa opens up, we’ll see fuel flow, but in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” DeSantis said.
About 1 out of 3 gas stations The entire state remained closed on Saturday, many of which were still without power and unable to operate, creating a bottleneck for those that remained open.
DeSantis said 37 million gallons of gas arrived at Florida ports Saturday.
“We have the Florida Highway Patrol to escort tankers from the port to those gas stations,” DeSantis said.
Chris O’Meara / AP
Long wait times heightened tensions at a gas station north of Tampa on Saturday.
“They were fighting like they were fistfighting,” gas station security guard Tootie Jones told CBS News. “One girl hit another girl with her car.”
In the community of Brandon, east of Tampa, a woman said she waited in line at a gas station for two hours.
Milton killed at least 23 people Wednesday as it flooded barrier islands and tore off roofs across central Florida. Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Stadium Creates a deadly tornado.
Officials said the damage would have been worse had there not been a mass evacuation. DeSantis said more than 1,000 people had been rescued from the storm as of Saturday.
AP Photo/Mike Carlson
The still-fresh damage inflicted by Hurricane Helen just two weeks ago probably helped many people flee.
“I think Helen was a stark reminder of how vulnerable certain areas, especially coastal areas, are to storms,” said Craig Fugate, who served as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President Barack Obama. “When people see firsthand what can happen, especially in nearby areas, it could lead to changes in the behavior of future storms.”
More than 1.2 million customers in Florida remained without power Saturday evening, according to Find Energy. The White House said 50,000 workers across the U.S. were working to restore power.
CBS News traveled to the hard-hit Vallico neighborhood east of Tampa on Saturday, where flooding engulfed entire neighborhoods.
Terry Rudd and his family are just returning to see what’s left of the house.
“This would be a mess to try to rebuild,” Rudd said.
The Rudd family lost their car and the floor of their home caved in.
“We’re going to cry. We’re going to cry a lot after this is over,” said family member Tiffany Nagy. “Our love for this family will always be there.”
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Meanwhile, many Floridians were grateful to be back alive.
“I love my house, but I’m not dying in it,” Fred Newman said Friday while walking his dog outside a rest area on Interstate 75 north of Tampa.
Newman and his wife live in Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a powerful Category 3 hurricane. Heeding local evacuation orders ahead of the storm, they drove nearly 500 miles to Destin in the Florida Panhandle. Neighbors said the hurricane destroyed their carport and caused other damage, but Neumann shrugged, saying insurance should cover it.
About 30 miles north of Zephyrhills, CBS News crews joined Pasco County Fire Rescue teams wading through the water to get everyone safely out of their homes.
“These are all new homes. These have all been built in the last year and a half to two years, so obviously they’re a little bit higher on the ground and they’re still nice, but… the original homes in this neighborhood, rescuers told CBS News, survived three hurricanes. He said he suffered great damage as a result.
Golf course communities faced flooding from Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton, and already saturated land has little room to handle more water.
Lee and Pamela Essenburm evacuated their home in Palmetto, on the southern tip of Tampa Bay, fearing Milton would hit as a deadly Category 4 or 5 storm.
“I’m not taking any chances on that,” Lee Essenbaum said. “It’s not worth it.”
On Saturday, President Biden approved Florida’s disaster declaration, which provides federal funding to affected individuals in Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry and Hernando counties. , Highland, Hillsboro, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Fork, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. John’s, St. Lucie, Sumter and Volusia and Miccosukee tribes of Florida Indians.
Assistance could include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and businesses recover after Milton.
“This is ridiculous. We need power here. We need help here,” said Palm Beach Gardens resident Mia Watson.
The tornado caused unexpected damage.
Dive boat captain Tony Brazzale, who has lived in his Wellington home in southeast Florida for 10 years, wasn’t worried about Hurricane Milton. The center of the storm was expected to make landfall on the other side of the peninsula and then move far north across the state, where his family is.
But as the hurricane began to pound the state Wednesday afternoon, he stood outside his home as if storm It was looming in the sky. He took the video with his cell phone. The pressure dropped and his wife said her ears were popping. It was time to go inside.
AP Photo/Stephany Matat
The twister shattered home windows, tore shingles, ripped trees from the ground and scattered branches and other debris across yards. Two days later, Brazzale donned safety goggles and used a chainsaw to clean up the damage.
“The hurricane was a no-brainer for us,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for the F-3 tornado, none of this would have happened to us.”
It was one of dozens. The tornado created by Milton The storm struck South Florida far from where it made landfall near Sarasota. At least six people were killed, one of them at the Village of Spanish Lake Country Club near Fort Pierce, about an hour’s drive north of Wellington.
Meteorologists believe there may have been at least 38 tornadoes linked to Milton. The National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings statewide the day the hurricane struck, though it is still reviewing preliminary reports, which could take several weeks.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Once the review is complete, the storm may crack the all-time top 10 list for most tornadoes caused by hurricanes.
One of those twisters narrowly missed Tom Perusi’s home but easily tossed his boat.
“We went into the concrete bathroom and stayed there,” he told CBS News. “And the whole place shook, everything shook. And when we came out, I took it seriously. I thought I was ready for everything. I was ready for everything, not a tornado.”
But Gov. Ron DeSantis warned people not to let down their guard, citing ongoing safety threats including standing water and downed power lines that could hide dangerous objects.
“We are now in an era of preventable deaths,” DeSantis said Friday. “You have to make the right decisions and know there are risks.”
Tom Hanson contributed to this report.
