SARASOTA: Hurricane Milton tore a coast-to-coast path of destruction across the US state of Florida, whipping up a spate of deadly tornadoes that left at least four people dead, but avoiding the catastrophic devastation officials had feared.

“The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario,” Florida Governor Ron DeS­antis told a news conference.

Milton made landfall on Wednesday night on the Florida Gulf Coast as a major Category 3 storm, with sustained, powerful winds smashing inland through communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, before roaring off Florida’s east coast into the Atlantic.

The four deaths occurred in St. Lucie on Florida’s east coast, with at least two of those in the Spanish Lakes Communities, when multiple twisters touched down on Wednesday afternoon, said county spokesperson Erick Gill. He said it was unclear whether the other two fatalities were at Spanish Lakes.

Four dead, hundreds of homes laid waste as tornadoes sweep across Florida

There were 19 confirmed tornados in Florida as of 8pm on Wednesday, about the time Milton made landfall, DeSantis said.

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More than three million homes and businesses in Florida were without power on Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

The hurricane tore a gaping hole in the fabric roof of Tropicana Field, the stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg, but there were no reports of injuries. The ballpark was a staging area for responders, with thousands of cots set up on the field.

Stranded residents

In Clearwater on the west coast, emergency crews in rescue boats were out at first light, plucking stranded residents trapped in their homes by more than a meter (yard) of floodwater.

President Joe Biden, who said he spoke with DeSantis on Thursday, urged people to stay inside in the aftermath of the storm, with downed power lines and debris “creating dangerous conditions.”

In a video posted on social media, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania were praying for Florida residents affected by the storm and urged them to vote for him.

Hours before Milton made landfall on Florida’s west coast, damage had already been done far away on the opposite side of the state, as tornadoes suddenly descended.

Streets in downtown Orlando, in the interior of the state, were covered in leaves but largely spared from flooding. Jackie Berrios, 60, told AFP that an oak tree “snapped in half” at her father’s home, “but luckily it didn’t hit his house.”

Scientists say extreme rainfall and destructive storms are occurring with greater severity and frequency as temperatures rise due to climate change. The cleanup from Milton will come as emergency crews still work to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 237 people.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2024