Emergency officials: Be cautious at darkened traffic lights

SARASOTA — Emergency management officials continue to ask local residents to stay off the road in the first day after Hurricane Milton pushed through Southwest Florida.

Anyone who does need to be on the road, however, should be aware of widespread power outages for traffic lights in DeSoto and Sarasota counties.

Drivers who do come to a traffic light gone dark should treat the intersection as an all-way stop, allowing prior arrivals and vehicles to their right to go first.

"Take it upon yourself to do the right thing," Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kenn Watson said Thursday.

DeSoto County Fire Chief/Public Safety Director Chad Jorgensen echoed those concerns as county staff and attached National Guard units conduct damage assessment and rescues of isolated residents.

Emergency officials also continued to warn against entering flooded waters on the road. While flooding is not as widespread as initially feared, there remains risks such as hidden power lines, pollution or debris.

Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tupfumaneyi noted debris from Hurricane Helene last month may have been pushed around by Milton and could be hidden underneath elevated waters.

"We still ask people to be cautious," she said.

County officials estimated that there was between 7 to 8 feet of storm surge, less than the feared estimate of 10 to 15, concentrated in the South County area.

The city of Venice reported storm surge between 5 to 7 feet.

The storm surge reduction was attributed to the erosion at the bottom of the hurricane, reducing water elevation.

Tupfumaneyi also reported that Little Ringling Bridge, which leads to Longboat Key, saw "some damage" during the storm and is being evaluated.

First responders are currently accessing the island by boat, assessing damage close to where Milton's epicenter made landfall.

While the storm surge and rainfall were lower than anticipated, Tupfumaneyi said she hopes residents will remain cautious about hurricane risk in the future.

If anyone does need to wade into floodwaters to check on neighbors or property, officials are urging them to wear protective clothing and minimize risk from debris, pollution or power lines.

"Be appropriately clothed, with waders, so you aren’t exposing any skin to water," Jorgensen said.

DeSoto County reported roughly 20 calls for service before responders were taken off the road due to 45 mile-per-hour sustained winds Wednesday night.

Jorgensen counted several calls for downed trees and power lines, as well as a pregnant woman being evacuated to a hospital and a structure fire with multiple animal deaths.

He also noted that even before sustained winds reached 45 MPH, there were gusts — short but concentrated bursts of wind — that recorded at 75 miles-per-hour.

"A gust of 75 can knock a tree over," he said.

DeSoto County officials are also keeping an eye on the Peace River, which has seen higher elevation after the storm even as other rivers have gone down.

Jorgensen said that National Guard units have 10 "high water vehicles" in operation to assist in search and rescue, along with several vehicles used by Public Safety and a Bearcat vehicle used by the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office.

Meanwhile, Watson said that FHP saw relatively few calls for service leading up to the storm.

He credited local drivers with being more cautious during heavy rainfall than light rain, keeping Interstate 75 clear hours before landfall.

"Most folks know what to do," he said.