Over 500 residents, 104 pets rescued in Hillsborough County following Hurricane Milton

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hillsborough County officials held a news conference to discuss the impacts of Hurricane Milton.

Officials spoke at the Public Safety Operations Complex on Columbus Drive in Tampa.

Over 500 residents and 104 pets have been rescued by Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. Approximately 135 of the rescued residents were from an assisted living facility in the University area.

“While we expect these numbers to rise as operations continue, we are committed to keeping our community updated as information becomes available,” said Fire Rescue Information Chief Danny Alvarez. “Thank you to all our teams for their dedication, the media for their incredible job, and the community for your continued support.”

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Hillsborough County Utility customers are under a precautionary boil water advisory. Any customers experiencing low water pressure should boil all tap water used for cooking, drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, or washing dishes.

Residents are also advised to minimize wastewater activities such as showers, flushing, toilets, laundry, washing dishes, or dumping liquids down drains to prevent sewage backups due to power loss at the sewage pump stations.

Hillsborough officials said no confirmed deaths have been reported to the county, but Tampa police said one death investigation is underway shortly after the press conference began.

As of 2 p.m. Thursday, around 511,806 TECO customers reported power outages and over 2 million people across the Tampa Bay area are without power.

“We are going to get the electricity back on,” promised Mayor Jane Castor.

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