Hurricane Milton caused at least 16 deaths, according to a new report, in its wake in Florida, with two million homes still without electricity despite a less intense disaster than expected. The damage is estimated at around 50 billion.
“The storm was significant, but fortunately the worst-case scenario did not occur,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Thursday morning.
The hurricane “weakened before making landfall and the marine submersion, from what we know for the moment, was not as significant as that observed for Hurricane Helene”, which struck several states in the Southeast, explained Ron DeSantis.
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Billions of damages in these deadly tornadoes
“Specialists estimate that (Milton) caused damage of around $50 billion,” assured Joe Biden on Friday who will visit the site on Sunday.
Sixteen people lost their lives across several counties, according to the authorities, the most bereaved being that of Saint Lucia (6 dead), on the east coast of the peninsula. Three other people lost their lives in Volusia, two in the city of Saint Petersburg and a new victim in Tampa, according to local authorities. Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters that the victims were killed by tornadoes. He had previously reported ten people having lost their lives.
Milton swept Florida from west to east after making landfall Wednesday evening, in a region already battered by powerful Hurricane Helen about two weeks earlier.
Milton reached the west coast of Florida on Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane — on a scale of 5 — and maintained powerful winds as it made its way inland, before reaching the Atlantic the following morning.
President Joe Biden and the governor spoke by phone Thursday morning to discuss the situation, the White House said. In a video released the same day, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he was “saddened by the devastation” caused by Milton.
>> Update on the situation in Forum:
United States: the passage of tropical hurricane Milton causes the death of at least 4 people in Florida (video) / Forum / 2 min. / Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
“Very lucky”
In Sarasota County, on Florida’s west coast, where water rose 8 to 10 feet according to the governor, residents began going out to survey the damage. Tree branches and traffic signs litter the streets.
“I think we are very lucky,” resident Carrie Elizabeth told AFP. “It will take a long time to clean up, but it could have been much worse,” she assures.
>> The testimony in La Matinale of a resident of Sarasota:
Testimony from a Sarasota resident after Hurricane Milton hit Florida / La Matinale / 1 min. / yesterday at 06:22
Joe Biden, however, called on the population to “stay indoors” for the moment, in particular to avoid “downed power lines, debris, and washed out roads”.
Further north, in St. Petersburg, on Tampa Bay, the hurricane tore the roof off the local professional team’s baseball stadium and toppled a crane.
More than two million homes remain without power across Florida, according to the governor.
Winds still violent
Although it has left the peninsula, the hurricane continues to produce powerful winds and “heavy rain” over central and eastern Florida, according to the US Hurricane Center (NHC).
Milton was expected to be “one of the most destructive hurricanes in more than a century in Florida,” Joe Biden warned Wednesday evening.
Two weeks after Hurricane Helene passed through the same region, which caused at least 237 deaths across the southeast of the United States (including at least 15 in Florida), this new storm was all the more worrying as the numerous debris caused by the first hurricane were still visible in the streets and could be carried away by the winds.
“Alarm signal”
Florida, the third most populous state in the country and which attracts many tourists, is used to hurricanes. But climate change, by warming the seas, makes their rapid intensification more likely and increases the risk of more powerful phenomena, according to scientists.
For John Marsham, a specialist in atmospheric sciences, “many aspects of Helen and Milton are entirely consistent” with what scientists anticipate in terms of climate change.
>> Read also: Regions devastated by Hurricane Helene still cut off from the world in the United States
“Hurricanes need warm oceans to form, and record ocean temperatures fuel these devastating storms,” he explains.
The two hurricanes, which occurred a few weeks before an extremely close presidential election, took on a political dimension, with Republicans and Democrats arguing over disaster aid.
Former President Donald Trump accuses the Democrats, at the head of the federal state, of having intervened too late after Hurricane Helen, allegations strongly denied by President Biden and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. They in turn accuse the Republican candidate of irresponsibly fueling disinformation around the event.
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