At least 23 people were killed and millions were left without power for days after Hurricane Milton made landfall on Oct. 9 as a Category 3 hurricane on the west central coast of Florida, according to reporting from NBC and CBS News.
Milton made landfall only 11 days after Hurricane Helene, which struck in late September and left a huge swath of destruction in the southeastern United States, particularly North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The two back-to-back hurricanes left towns like Punta Gorda, Fla., completely destroyed, according to USA Today.
Milton was formerly a Category 5 hurricane but decreased to Category 3 status with 120 mph winds at landfall, according to CBS news. It then became a Category 1 as it made its way across the state.
CBS News reported that in Florida, the deadly storm surge thought to be brought by Milton never arrived but major damage was still caused, and many streets and towns have major flooding especially those of barrier islands and coastal areas. and Tornadoes also broke windows, pulled trees from the ground and ripped shingles off roofs according to CBS News. The path of destruction could cost $50 million estimated by president Biden according to USA today.
Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties were some of the ones hit the hardest by Milton, according to NBC News, and hundreds of people had to be evacuated from their homes by first responders.
AP News reported that far from the eye of the hurricane, dozens of tornadoes associated with Milton hit South Florida, and on the day that Milton made landfall, 126 tornado warnings were issued in the state of Florida.
Many have lost their homes and the rebuilding process will be hard; cleanup efforts have been slowed because of the shortage of fuel throughout the state, according to CBS News, and three distribution centers for fuel across the state were providing 10 gallons of gas for citizens for free. Federal assistance can be provided for individuals in specific counties throughout the state through a disaster declaration approved by President Biden, including temporary housing, home repair and more, CBS News has reported.
Recovery efforts have also been slowed by widespread disinformation and rumors spreading on social media and other media channels, according to FEMA, including false reports of people needing to pay back FEMA grants for recovery and U.S. citizenship being necessary for financial aid.
“We have seen many rumors that have the potential to seriously hamper storm response efforts or prevent people from getting assistance quickly,” FEMA officials wrote in a formal “Hurricane Rumor Response” statement on FEMA.gov. “Help keep yourself, your family and your community safe by being aware of rumors and scams and sharing official information from trusted sources.”
Official confirmation of information and debunking of false reports and rumors about FEMA’s hurricane response is available online at fema.gov/disaster/recover/rumor-control.
Photo credit: “Hurricane Milton Photo 64” by Florida Fish and Wildlife is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
