Milton Inflicts Death and Destruction, But Florida Avoids 'Worst-Case Scenario'

Thought Question: How would you handle a situation where you had to quickly get ready for something unexpected, such as a hurricane?

Hurricane Milton roared across central Florida early Thursday. It left at least 10 people dead as the storm whipped up tornadoes and flooded large swaths of the state before exiting the East Coast. And yet, officials said, it could have been much worse.

“Thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, adding that relief workers have yet to fully assess the damage. “We’ve got more to do,” he said, “But we will (surely) get through this.”

The state appears to have escaped the worst likely outcome. It dodged a direct hit from Milton on the largely populated Tampa Bay region. That and the storm quickly weakened as it crossed the 140-mile peninsula. Before leaving the state, Milton had dropped from a Category 4 to a Category 1 storm in a day. Milton made landfall at Siesta Key (population 5,500) near Sarasota as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday night.  

The storm knocked out power across a huge swath of central Florida. It left nearly 3.4 million people without power, said Poweroutage.us. Milton ripped to pieces the fabric roof atop Tropicana Field. It houses the Tampa Bay Rays. And it had served as a short-term staging site for first responders.

Photo of Tropicana Field's damaged roof courtesy Reuters.

The extreme storm surge that storm watchers had feared did not come. But many places saw heavy flooding. Plant City was swamped with over 13 inches of rain. There, it was “absolutely staggering,” City Manager Bill McDaniel told The Associated Press. As many as 11 million people remain at risk of flash floods, officials said.

As rescue workers combed hard-hit places for survivors, officials confirmed Thursday that 10 people had died in the storm. Half died in St. Lucie County. It was struck by multiple tornadoes.