Connor Ferran (L) and his neighbor Leroy Roker survey what is left after what appeared to be a tornado tore the roof off of Ferran’s home before Hurricane Milton’s arrival on Oct. 9, 2024, in Fort Myers. He said he had just had the roof replaced two years after Hurricane Ian had damaged it. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
UPDATE: St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed Thursday morning at least four people died after multiple tornadoes struck down in the southeast county. Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to hold a press conference in the sheriff’s office at noon.
Search and rescue missions, door-to-door welfare checks, and damage assessments are on the docket in the hours following Hurricane Milton.
After Milton’s landfall in Siesta Key in Sarasota County, National Guard and other responders had rescued 48 people as of 6:30 a.m., Gov. Ron DeSantis announced. Search and rescue missions continued in 26 counties, with 125 active missions as of the governor’s morning news conference. About 20 urban search and rescue crews are conducting door-to-door checks.
No fatalities have been confirmed yet, but it seems “very likely that there were some with the tornadoes,” DeSantis said. “No confirmations. I imagine there’s going to be some confirmations, but it’s too soon to tell.”
At sun-up Thursday morning, crews began cut-and-toss operations to clear roadways and power lines. Bridge inspections have begun, too, the governor said.
About 12 hours after the storm made landfall, more than 3.3 million Florida electric customers lacked power. Near the area of landfall, 75% of Hillsborough electric customers, 97% in Hardee, 82% in Manatee, 68% in Pinellas, and 75% in Sarasota were without power.
DeSantis said the Tampa Bay and Nature Coast regions received 10-15 inches of rain and some areas saw up to 18 inches in Pinellas and coastal Hillsborough counties.
River flooding will be a “long term effect,” with the St. Johns River flooding in Seminole, St. John’s, Flagler, Clay, and Duval counties, according to Kevin Guthrie, director of the Division of Emergency Management.
He said it will take 45 days for the river to flush into the Atlantic Ocean. The Hillsborough and Little Wekiva rivers are also experiencing major flooding.
“What we can say is, the storm was significant but, thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario,” DeSantis said. “The storm did weaken before landfall and the storm surge, as initially reported, has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.”
The governor said damage assessments were underway and made comparisons to hurricanes of the past.
“In terms of just right now, the morning after, if I think back to, like, Hurricane Ian, I don’t think that you’re looking at similar amount of damage to Ian. And then with Helene, there may end up being more overall damage, there may not, I don’t know, but definitely the surge did not reach Helene levels.”
The fabric roof ripped off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, a staging site earlier in the week for power linemen. DeSantis said that as forecasts solidified during the week, workers left the stadium and no state assets were inside when the storm swept through.
Now that the sun is up, here’s a 360-degree view of the damage Hurricane Milton caused to Tropicana Field’s roof and the inside of the ballpark. Absolutely heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/ZCtPHv6rE9
— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) October 10, 2024
Tampa International Airport sustained minimal damage and was expected to open Friday. Seaports would be surveyed but will “likely be able to resume operations very quickly,” DeSantis said.
This post will be updated with information from the governor’s office as it become available.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.