Hurricane Milton carves scar across Florida. At least 11 dead, 3 million without power

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More than three million people are without power statewide. Roofs are ripped off from coast to coast, including one over the Tropicana Field baseball stadium in St. Petersburg. Parts of Sarasota, Fort Myers and other Gulf Coast communities are underwater, flooded by up to 6 feet of storm surge. Homes and buildings exploded from a record-setting string of tornadoes across the state, including one that leveled a large St. Lucie Sheriff’s Department facility.

The death toll was at least 11 by noon Thursday and could still climb, including five people who died during two confirmed tornadoes that swept St. Lucie County, Sheriff Keith Pearson said. Two others died in St. Petersburg, Police Chief Tony Holloway told the Tampa Bay Times . Volusia County spokespeople confirmed three more deaths there to the Miami Herald, two due to falling trees. Another woman died in Citrus County, also due to a falling tree, NBC reported .

Hurricane Milton cut a scar of damage across Central Florida after making landfall on Siesta Key just before 8:30 pm Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm packing 120 mph winds. It flooded inland communities near Orlando and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands.

It finally pulled away from the other side of the state Thursday morning, just north of Cape Canaveral, leaving storm surge and more flooding rain in its wake.

SEE MORE: Take a look at some of the scenes in Florida as the storm approaches .

It will take days to fully survey the damage and total up the losses but even before dawn, it was clear Milton left a multi-billion-dollar mess in its wake.

Tampa Bay and much of the Gulf Coast faced sustained winds and gusts that topped 100mph. Near landfall, Sarasota registered a 102 mph gust around 9:30 p.m. St. Petersburg, to the north, registered a 101 mph gust around 10:30 p.m. Tampa measured a 97 mph gust just after 11 pm., and Bradenton clocked in a 96 mph gust.

Communities south of the landfall also saw potentially double-digit storm surge, including Fort Myers Beach. Most barrier islands, where storm surge levels will likely be the highest, remained locked off and inaccessible to even residents by Thursday afternoon.

In Charlotte County, south of Sarasota, high water marks as high as 5 feet were visible on doors near the coast. Fort Myers marked 5.25 feet of inundation on its tide gauge, under the 7-foot record set by Hurricane Ian. To the South, in Naples, the National Weather Service recorded water levels about 5 feet above normal. That takes second place to the 6-foot record set by Hurricane Ian in 2022 before the gauge was destroyed, although the total was likely higher for that storm.

Inland flooding was also an issue. The bulk of Milton’s rain — up to 18 inches in St. Petersburg and around 11 inches to the east of Orlando, in Clermont— fell north of the eye’s path, drenching the already-soaked central Florida area. The rain swelled rivers and canals by several feet, flooding streets and some low-lying neighborhoods.

Even before Milton made landfall, the National Weather Service was issuing tornado warnings — about 100 in a six-hour span across parts of the state far from its powerful core. Tornadoes ravaged the southern end of the state, touching down in Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Palm Beach Gardens, St. Lucie County, and as far south as Broward County, where they ripped off roofs and razed buildings.

By Thursday afternoon, nearly 3.3 million residents and businesses were reported without power across the state. The hardest hit counties were Manatee, Sarasota and Hardee, all closest to Milton’s landfall.

READ MORE: Florida customers are out of power ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall

Along much of the Gulf Coast, cleanup had already begun.

In the enclave of New Point Comfort, a tiny peninsula in Englewood where everyone is on the same group chat and 1920s fishing cottages stand next to reinforced manses, Mike Giard and his 16-year-old son Jack removed screws from one of their neighbor’s decks that floated down the street in Milton’s storm surge. A busted water line underneath was gushing.

Their front yard was a mish-mash of debris from Helene and Milton that snapped off the neighborhood’s properties, all deposited right in front of their door. They got a few inches of water inside their house. They got a mound of trash outside.

“Looks like we got three refrigerators,” said Giard, who moved here with his wife and son two years ago, two months before Hurricane Ian gave them their first tropical weather disaster experience. “I don’t know whose roof that is.”

Up the road, a 19-year resident took videos of his neighbors’ homes to sent to them. Jeff Sankbeil said one of his neighbors has already decided to sell his waterlogged property and move up to Ocala.

“Water is water,” said Sankbeil, a general contractor. “The only way to beat water is elevation.”

Gulf Coast battered by storm surge, winds

The full toll of Milton’s likely lethal surge won’t be clear for days, but it does appear that the worst-case scenario of a two-story building-level storm surge in the densely populated Tampa Bay was avoided.

Still, blistering winds have pounded the city, tearing off the roof of Tropicana Field, the arena for the Tampa Bay Rays that was supposed to be used as a shelter for emergency responders. Videos show the stadium was at one point packed with rows of empty green cots. But the staging area ended up being relocated to Jacksonville, DeSantis’ press secretary Jeremy Redfern said late Wednesday night.

“This staging area was already relocated because of this reason. It’s no longer at Tropicana Field,” Redfern said in a post on X at midnight. He did not say when the relocation took place.

On Thursday morning, it was unclear whether the roof damage will impact the state’s mobilization efforts in the area.

READ MORE: Hurricane Milton rips off Tropicana Field’s roof after landfall. Look at devastating damage

Elsewhere in the city, a crane collapsed into an office building that housed several companies, including the Tampa Bay Times.

As predicted by the hurricane center, Milton’s eye came ashore just south of the mouth of the bay. The official landfall was a mere 12 miles to the south of where the hurricane center initially predicted it would land in its first forecast track on Saturday.

A 40-mile jog would have been the difference between what is sure to be a catastrophic scenario for hundreds of thousands of people and a nightmare scenario for even more.

Evacuation orders appeared successful, with the state clocking in at least 100,000 evacuees in public shelters as of Wednesday evening. By Thursday evening, more deaths had been reported from falling trees and tornadoes than surge, although the toll is preliminary as access is still limited to barrier islands.

A day after Milton blew Gulf waters over Fort Myers Beach, the long, slow muddy cleanup was underway. Most people evacuated as ordered, which turned out to be wise as most main floors on the island’s homes were a muddy mess. The roads had been mostly cleared by trucks and store owners were cleaning in their wet shops. Saws and other noises filled the air. Police were only allowing residents to return and media to visit.

James Barker, 61, from Bethlehem Pennsylvania rode out the storm in his three-story gray home a block from the water. He moved the furniture upstairs in time for the 3 or more feet of water that leaked into the house. On his arm in blue marker was his date of birth and name. “DeSantis told me to do it. And you gotta listen to that guy,” he said.

Barker was pressure cleaning the exterior of the property, sweat dripping in only blue shorts, smoking a cigarette. He said he’d never do it again.

“It was crazy. It rose three or four feet. It came around the house. It slowly rose up,” he said. “It was pitch black and deathly quiet. No lights. No people. Nothing.”

Round two hurts more

For most communities around Milton’s landfall, this was a second blow almost two weeks to the day after Hurricane Helene scraped the coast, sending feet of water into living rooms.

Just south of landfall, in a mobile home community on Roberts Bay in Venice, Tony Licato pointed out that the pile of debris in front of the trailer his fiancée rents was from Hurricane Helene as they surveyed damage Thursday morning. A waterlogged mattress, soggy dresser and shredded wood.

The kayak, though, was new. This community is now littered with shredded metal, splintered wood, insulation and random artifacts after a few feet of water washed in during Milton, leaving a water line. But it could’ve been worse, he said.

“The first one was a gut punch to us that took us down to our knees,” Licato said. “We thought this one would be a punch to the face that knocked our teeth out.”

Down near Englewood, the bridge to Manasota Key was closed off Thursday morning. A Charlotte County Sheriff’s deputy said storm surge from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago was worse but Milton’s wind was “devastating”, scattering furniture and pieces of building hundreds of yards away.

On several nearby streets, debris that had yet to be picked up from Helene was littered about. Film reel cans marked with “family vacation” lay next to a projector, a dozen eggs — unbroken — were scattered on the grass. A piano was on its back, keys still and exposed to the sun, with a Boston Whaler in view behind it in the trees.

Among the many books, one was open to a page that had the beginning of a new chapter: “New year, same situation.”

A couple walked by to scan the debris. They were waiting to be allowed across the bridge to go home to their condo. Kerre Willis walked with her “mud board” — some scrap wood she used to brace herself as she waded through the mess.

“Maybe the insurance company will give everyone a two-for,” she said, laughing nervously.

Central Florida soaked

Hurricane Milton passed through Central Florida with wind damage, some flash flooding and minimal injuries, according to initial reports from local officials, meteorologists and media reports.

The same couldn’t be said a little farther south in St. Lucie County, where a series of tornadoes killed four people hours before Milton made landfall in the Sarasota area of the Gulf Coast, Spokesperson Erick Gill told the Herald. The fifth victim was found in the rubble Thursday morning as first responders were sifting through storm debris, St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said at a news conference with DeSantis.

The two confirmed tornadoes caused “significant damage” when they touched down around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Gill said. The county opened additional shelters to house people displaced by the tornadoes.

In all of Central Florida, Milton was definitely a rain event, National Weather Service Melbourne meteorologist Jessie Schapher told the Miami Herald Thursday morning. Parts of Volusia County received more than 14 inches of rain. Orange County received between 9 and 11 inches, and, in the Melbourne area on the east coast, less than 6 inches, Schapher said.

Preliminary numbers show the highest wind gust recorded at Orlando International Airport was 87 mph, according to the Weather Service.

There were also reports of heavy flooding in some areas. A manufactured home community along I-4 in Lakeland appeared to be submerged in several feet of water, according to video on social media.

On Thursday morning, sheriff’s departments were going door-to-door in places like Orange County, wading through the flooding to make sure residents were OK. The office said in a statement on X that its Emergency Response Team was at a mobile home park at Rouse and Buck Road where the flood water was chest-deep in some places.

“Despite their efforts, none of the residents wanted to leave their homes. We hope they are able to stay safe,” the sheriff’s office said.

Walt Disney World said in a statement that all of its Orlando area theme parks remained closed through Thursday. Universal Studios also said that its theme park, as well as Universal CityWalk, would remain closed Thursday. As of Thursday morning, Orlando International Airport remained closed.

Officials ready for recovery

As of Thursday morning, 3.3 million Floridians were without power and about 635,000 customers have had power restored, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference in Tallahassee.

The most significant outages took place in Hillsborough, Hardee, Pinellas, Sarasota and Manatee counties, he said. In Hardee County, 97% were without power as of Thursday morning, DeSantis said. He said there are more than 50,000 linemen ready to work to help with power restorations.

“A lot of what they will do this morning is likely to assess the damage and then begin restoration operations very quickly,” DeSantis said.

Florida Power and Light President and CEO Armando Pimentel did not provide an estimate of when power could be restored to the 1.1 million of its customers that remain in the dark, but noted that more than 750,000 customers have had electricity restored already.

“Our team is working around the clock and will continue to do so until we get every customer’s lights back on,” he said in a Thursday afternoon statement.

DeSantis said he talked to President Joe Biden this morning and that he has been helpful. “He wants to help us get the job done,” he said.

“I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state and local governments and work together to put the people first.”

Federal officials pre-placed a hefty amount of resources in Florida ahead of Milton’s landfall. More than 2,000 search and rescue vehicles, around 20 million meal packets and 40 million liters of water have already been sent to the state. FEMA also says that 60 high-water vehicles and helicopters, as well as 500 ambulances, have also been deployed.

READ MORE: ‘A true lifeline’: Community radio helps Florida immigrant workers prepare for Milton

McClatchy correspondent Michael Wilner and Miami Herald Staff Writers Devoun Cetoute and Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.