Floridians are healing Hurricane MiltonAs many of them were heading home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, they spent much of Saturday scrambling for gas as fuel shortages gripped the state.
In St. Petersburg, dozens of people lined up at a gas station that ran out of gas, hoping it would arrive soon. Among them were Daniel Thornton and his 9-year-old daughter Magnolia, who arrived at the station at 7am and were still waiting four hours later.
“They told me the gas is coming but they don’t know when it will be here,” he said. “I have no choice. I have to sit here all day with him until I get gas.’
Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Saturday morning that the state had opened three fuel distribution sites and planned to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons (37.85 liters) each, free of charge, he said.
“Obviously, as power is restored … and the Port of Tampa is open, you’re going to see fuel flowing. But in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” DeSantis said.
Officials were replenishing nearby gas stations with state-owned fuel stocks and providing generators to stations that had lost power.
Disaster strikes twice
Those who arrived home assessed the damage and began the laborious process of cleaning up. Some, like Venice’s Bahia Vista Gulf board member Bill O’Connell, believed the housing association did so after hiring companies to burn, treat and dry the subsequent units. Hurricane Helena. Milton undid that work and caused additional damage, O’Connell said.
“It flooded everything that was already under water, it brought back all the sand on our property that we removed,” O’Connell said. “And it was also damaged by catastrophic winds, tearing off a lot of roofs and blowing out a lot of windows that caused more damage inside the units.”
Both hurricanes left devastation in the fishing town of Cortez, a community of 4,100 on the north shore of Sarasota Bay. Residents of her small one-story wood and stucco houses were working to remove broken furniture and tree limbs, and piled debris in the street much like they did after Hurricane Helene.
“Everything is shot,” said Mark Praught, a retired Manatee County street sweeper who saw 4-foot (1.2-meter) storm surges through Helene. “We’ll change the electrical and plumbing and go from there.”
Paught and his wife, Catherine, have lived in a low-rise house that now looks like an empty shell for 36 years. All the furniture had to be discarded, the walls and brick and tile floors had to be cleaned of dirt and the drywall had to be torn out.
Catherine Praugh said they felt “pure panic” when Hurricane Milton threatened Cortez after Helene, halting cleanup and forcing evacuations. Fortunately, the second storm did not damage the house.
“This is what we live for,” Catherine Praugh said. “We hope the insurance company will help us.”
At Bradenton Beach, Jen Hilliard collected wet sand mixed with rocks and tree roots and dumped the mixture into a wheel.
“This was all grass,” Hilliard said of the sandy mess under his feet. “For that they will have to make 500 trips.”
Hilliard, who moved to Florida six months ago and lives farther inland, said she was happy to help clean up her friend’s house, a block from the Bradenton Beach waterfront.
Furniture and appliances sat outside next to debris from the dry interior after Helen sent a series of storm surges into the home. Inside, the walls were knocked down 4 feet (up to 1.2 meters), exposing the beams underneath.
“You roll with the punches,” he said. “The community is the best part, though. Everyone helps each other.”
Milton killed at least 10 people after making landfall as a Category 3 storm, barreling through central Florida, flooding barrier islands and creating deadly tornadoes. Officials said the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations.
Overall, more than a thousand people had been rescued from the storm by Saturday, DeSantis said.
Property damage and economic costs in the millions
on sunday President Joe Biden It will examine the disaster caused on Florida’s Gulf Coast the hurricane. He said he hopes to connect with DeSantis during the visit.
The trip gives Biden another opportunity to pressure House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, to push lawmakers back to Washington to approve more funding during the pre-election recess. It’s something Johnson says he won’t do.
Biden is arguing that Congress must act now to ensure the Small Business Administration and FEMA get the money they need to get through the hurricane season, which stretches into November in the Atlantic.
DeSantis welcomed the federal government’s approval of the disaster declaration announced Saturday and said he had strong support from Biden.
“He basically said, you know, you guys are doing a great job. We’re here for you,” he said when asked about his conversations with Biden. “We sent in a big request and got what we wanted.”
Moody’s Analytics estimated on Saturday that the storm’s economic costs will be between $50 billion and $85 billion, including more than $70 billion in property damage and up to $15 billion in lost economic output.
Security threats continue, including rising rivers
As the recovery continues, DeSantis cautioned people to be careful, citing ongoing safety threats, including downed power lines and standing water. About 1.3 million Floridians were still without power as of Saturday afternoon, it was reported poweroutage.us.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Paul Close said rivers will “continue to rise” over the next four to five days, resulting in river flooding, especially around Tampa Bay and to the north. It brought the most rain to these areas, on top of a wet summer that included several previous hurricanes.
“There’s not much you can do to wait,” Close said of the river crests. “At least there’s no rain in the forecast, not a lot of rain. So we have a break from our wet weather here.’
