Live updates: With Milton in rearview, Tampa Bay looks toward recovery

Power outages. Water restrictions. Fuel shortages. Obstructed roads.

Hurricane Milton is long gone, but the challenges have only just begun.

On Friday, officials continued to assess the damage around Tampa Bay and offered one resounding assurance: Help is on the way.

But the road to recovery promises to be a long one. As many residents return home and get to work on cleanup and repairs, here’s what to know today.

Track power outages around the state.

Find resources, including food, FEMA and Wi-Fi.

See which stores and attractions are open this weekend.

Find a hot meal around Tampa Bay.

9:30 a.m. Rivers still high after delayed flooding

On Friday, rivers in Hillsborough and Pasco counties, engorged by Milton’s torrential rain, swelled past their banks — a delayed disaster that caused near-record flooding and necessitated rescues in some areas. A day later, those waterways remained at flood stage, though some of them were starting to come down.

Hillsborough County’s Alafia River, which reached levels not recorded since 1933 and forced Lithia residents from their homes at dawn Friday, had dropped from a peak of about 24 feet Friday morning to about 22 feet Saturday morning, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency’s forecast has the river going down steadily but remaining at a flood stage for several days.

It was a similar story for Pasco County’s Anclote River, which also reached near-record levels Friday and caused road closures in west Pasco. Water levels there were beginning to creep down Saturday morning, according to the agency, which forecasted it to drop below flood level sometime Monday morning or early afternoon.

Pasco officials said they were also keeping an eye on Cypress Creek, in the Land O’ Lakes area, which was already at a record level Saturday morning and still climbing, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast. It’s expected to crest at about 15 feet — besting a record of 13.8 feet set in 2004 — early Monday morning before slowly dropping.

— Jack Evans

9:10 a.m. Dozens of Pasco parks will stay closed “until further notice”

More than two dozen Pasco County parks and recreation complexes will be closed indefinitely as the county recovers from hurricanes Milton and Helene, it said in a Facebook post Saturday morning.

The closures affect 26 locations across the county. A full list is available here.

— Jack Evans

9 a.m. Feeding Tampa Bay will give out food at events across region

Feeding Tampa Bay will give out food at emergency distribution events in six counties Saturday. They are:

• 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Gulfview Grace Church, 6639 Hammock Road, Port Richey
• 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Jewett School of the Arts, 2250 8th St. NE, Winter Haven
• Noon - 2 p.m., Causeway Center, 3624 Causeway Blvd., Tampa
• Noon - 2 p.m., Palmetto Boys and Girls Club, 1600 10th St. W, Palmetto
• Noon - 2 p.m., South Oak First Baptist Church, 125 South Oak Ave., Lake Placid
• Noon - 2 p.m., TradeWinds Resort, 5500 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach

— Jack Evans

8:30 a.m. Electricity providers give timelines for power restoration

Tampa Electric Co. said it aims to restore power for “essentially all” customers in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties by Oct. 17. But many would see power restored before that. In both counties, 55% of customers will have power by Sunday and 75% by Tuesday. Customers in Pasco County should expect all power restored by Oct. 14 and Polk County should see the same by the next day.

By Friday night, the utility said it had restored power to more than half of the nearly 600,000 customers who lost it during Hurricane Milton.

Duke Energy said a majority of customers in Pasco and Pinellas counties would have power restored by Oct. 15. The company said Brevard, Citrus, Hernando, Highlands, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties should have power by Oct. 13. On Friday, the company said it had restored service to 350,000 customers while over 850,000 were still without power

— Justin Garcia

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