Hurricane Milton caused 10 to 16 deaths, according to U.S. media, with the number expected to rise as rescue teams continue their efforts, according to Florida Governor Rob DeSantis.
Scientists feared the hurricane, which reached Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico, would directly strike the densely populated Tampa area. However, it made landfall further south as a Category 3 and crossed the state as a Category 1, avoiding the worst-case scenarios.
According to The New York Times, authorities’ warnings about Hurricane Milton seem to have kept many people away from the affected areas, as the threat led to one of the largest evacuations in the state’s history.
This is the third hurricane to hit Florida this year, after Helene and Debby.
St. Petersburg, located near Tampa, has received over 45 centimeters of rain since Wednesday, a level meteorologists describe as a “once in 1,000 years” event, while wind gusts in Tampa reached up to 14 on the Beaufort scale.
So far, 1,000 people have been rescued, and more than 2.5 million homes remain without power, with damage assessments still underway. This is the third hurricane to hit Florida this year, following Hurricane Helene, which struck a few weeks earlier and caused 20 of the 230 total deaths, and Hurricane Debby, which struck in early August and was responsible for 6 of the 10 total fatalities.
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