Florida residents returning over the weekend from having evacuated their homes to escape from Hurricane Milton faced power outages which still left 470,000 people without electricity as of Oct. 13. Fuel shortages are also a big problem. As of early Sunday, Oct. 13, some 30% of the state’s gas stations had no gas. Now that the port of Tampa has reopened, efforts are underway to quickly ship fuel to gas stations, where people were still lined up waiting for hours for gas. The final death toll from Milton has risen to 23, up from 17, some of those due to deadly tornadoes which slammed the state even before the hurricane did.
Despite the lack of rainfall, there are continued flood warnings due to rising floodwaters, especially for communities in Central Florida, and the National Weather Service warns that the flood risk could persist for some weeks. Yesterday, Joe Biden visited the St. Petersburg area to make an aerial inspection and praise the work of first responders. He announced $612 million in additional assistance for communities displaced by the hurricane.
