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Rescue operations were underway in Florida on Thursday as officials tried to assess the damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton as it crossed the state overnight, causing widespread flooding and leaving millions without power.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday afternoon that state search and rescue teams have rescued at least 340 people from heavy floodwaters and destroyed buildings. Ten people had been killed, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
The Tampa Bay area was spared the catastrophic storm surge feared, although Sarasota County — where Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm — experienced surges of up to 10 feet in some places.
“What we can say is that the storm was significant, but fortunately this was not the worst-case scenario,” DeSantis said.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said Thursday that “one of the blessings” was that the city avoided the predicted storm surge. “That saved a lot,” she says.
The storm’s path has lowered estimates of Milton’s insurance losses, with credit rating agency Fitch putting them at between $30 billion and $50 billion.
The densely populated cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg escaped the “worst-case scenario” of flooding, saving about $5 billion to $10 billion in flood insurance payouts alone, says Trevor Burgess, CEO of Neptune Flood Insurance, the largest private provider in the country. of flood insurance.
Only 13 percent of Florida homeowners have flood insurance, but Burgess noted that his company had sold a record number of policies before Milton’s arrival.
“It is sad that it takes such events to raise people’s awareness of the risk of flooding,” he said.
“The real story of Milton was the wind. Our Tropicana field [sports stadium] is missing its roof,” he added. “That will have a very significant impact on the homeowners insurance business compared to the flood insurance business.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday he had been in contact with state officials throughout the day and called on Congress to “immediately” address disaster relief funding.
Biden said that while the Federal Emergency Management Agency “has what it needs,” the Small Business Administration, which provides aid to local businesses, was “pretty on the edge right now.”
Congress is not scheduled to return to Washington until after the November 5 presidential elections.
Biden also reiterated his criticism of former President Donald Trump for spreading misinformation about the federal government’s relief efforts. When reporters asked him if he planned to speak directly to Trump, Biden turned to the camera and said, “Mr. Former President Trump. Get a life, man.”
By Thursday afternoon, the storm’s winds had dropped to 75 mph and Milton was reclassified as a post-tropical cyclone as it moved across the Atlantic Ocean.
More than 2.9 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida as of 6:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks utilities across the country.
More than 2,000 flights around the U.S. were canceled because of the storm, most of which connected to Orlando, Tampa, Palm Beach, Miami and Southwest Florida International Airport, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking service.
Four deaths were reported after tornadoes formed in St. Lucie County on Florida’s east coast, according to county spokesman Erick Gill. The province did not have a mandatory evacuation order. “We didn’t expect to see the tornado activity we saw yesterday,” he said.
Milton is the second hurricane to hit the southern US in fourteen days. It comes after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in several southeastern states last month, killing more than 225 people and destroying roads in western North Carolina.
Economists at Citigroup estimate that the impact of Hurricane Helene alone could slow monthly job growth by at least tens of thousands of jobs, a number that combined with the aftermath of Hurricane Milton could exceed 100,000.
Milton could also have a “notable” effect on economic activity, reducing inflation-adjusted GDP growth by as much as 0.4 percentage points in the fourth quarter, said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY.
The hardest hit sectors include tourism, construction, retail and energy. “Hurricane Milton will leave a significant trail of destruction in its path,” he said.
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