Aftermath of Hurricane Milton: Over 3 million people without power in Florida

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rescue teams plucked Florida residents from the flotsam of Hurricane Milton on Thursday after the storm ripped through coastal communities, tearing homes into pieces and filling streets with mud triggered a spate of deadly tornadoes. At least six people were killed.

When the system hit just two weeks after the misery caused by Hurricane Helene, it also knocked out power to more than three million customers, flooded barrier islands, tore off the roof of a baseball stadium and… overturned a construction crane.

Among the most dramatic rescues was Hillsborough County officials finding a 14-year-old boy floating on a section of fence and pulling him onto a boat. A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man who became stuck on an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico after his fishing boat became stranded in waters churned by Hurricane Milton. The agency estimated that the man endured winds of 75 to 90 miles per hour (121 to 145 km/h) and waves up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) high during his night on the water.

“This man survived in a nightmare scenario that was a nightmare for even the most experienced sailor,” said Lt. Cmdr. the Coast Guard. Dana Grady said.

Despite the destruction, many people expressed relief Milton wasn't any worse. The hurricane spared Tampa a direct hit, and the deadly storm surge that scientists had feared never materialized.

The storm moved south in recent hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane in Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. Damage was extensive and water levels could continue to rise for days, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not “the worst-case scenario.”

“In a few weeks, you're going to be faced with two hurricanes — that's not easy to weather — but I've seen great resilience across this state,” the governor said at a briefing in Sarasota. He said he was “very confident that this area will recover very, very quickly.”

Authorities said five people were killed in tornadoes at Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce on Florida's Atlantic coast, where homes were destroyed. Police also found a woman dead under a fallen tree branch.

At a White House briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there were reports of up to 10 deaths from tornadoes, but he cautioned that the number was preliminary.

At least 340 people and 49 pets have been rescued in ongoing efforts, DeSantis said Thursday afternoon.

South of Tampa, Natasha Shannon and her husband Terry were lucky to be alive after the hurricane ripped the tin roof off their cinderblock home in Palmetto. They spent the night at a shelter with their three children and two grandchildren after she pressured them to leave.

“I said, 'Baby, we gotta go. Because we won’t survive this,” she said.

When they returned, they found the roof across the street torn to pieces, shredded insulation hanging from exposed ceiling beams and their belongings soaked.

“It’s not much, but it was ours,” she said. “What little we had is gone.”

The worst of the storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3 meters) – lower than the worst location during Helene. The storm also dropped up to 45 centimeters of rain in some areas.

Officials in the hardest-hit Florida counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees on roads, blocked bridges and flooding.

Among the dozens of tornadoes was a hurricane that struck the tiny barrier island of Matlacha off Fort Myers. The fishing and tourism village also experienced a boom, with many of the colorful buildings suffering severe damage. Tom Reynolds, 90, spent the morning sweeping away four feet of mud and water and collecting pieces of aluminum siding torn off by a twister that also picked up a car and hurled it across the street.

Elsewhere on the island, a house was blown into a street, temporarily blocking it. Some buildings caught fire. Reynolds said he plans to repair the home he built three decades ago.

“What else should I do?” he said.

In contrast, city workers on Anna Maria Island were grateful not to have to wade through floodwaters as they picked up debris Thursday morning, two weeks after Helene destroyed buildings and blew in piles of sand up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) high. Those poles may have helped protect homes from further damage, said Jeremi Roberts of the State Emergency Response Team.

“I'm shocked it's no longer there,” city worker Kati Sands said as she cleared the streets of siding and broken lights. “We lost so much with Helene, there wasn’t much left.”

Helene Flooded streets and homes in western Florida and killed at least 230 people across the south. In many places along the coast, communities struggled to collect and dispose of debris before Milton's winds and storm surges could toss it around and add to the damage.

The power went out in large parts of the state. Accordingly, more than 3.4 million households and companies were without electricity poweroutage.usthat tracks supply reports.

The fabric that serves as the roof of Tropicana Field – home of the Tampa Bay Rays The baseball team in St. Petersburg was blown to pieces by strong winds. Debris lay on the field.

About 80,000 people stayed in shelters and thousands of others fled after authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders in 15 Florida counties with a combined population of about 7.2 million people.

In Punta Gorda, a 10-foot (3-meter) tidal wave from the Peace River swept through the historic district, damaging homes and stranding six boats along a riverfront road. It was the third surge to hit the neighborhood in three months.

Josh Baldwin said he's more inclined to scrap his 38-foot boat than pay $100,000 to repair it. He couldn't get insurance because the ship was moored in Punta Gorda.

“They don’t like paying out, and this place always gets destroyed in hurricanes,” he said.

Half a block away, computer scientists Kent and Cathy Taylor and their son were using an SUV attached to a chain to pull wet drywall from the first floor of their three-story home, which they bought in July. The lower level has been gutted, but the upper floors are still structurally sound.

“It'll be nice again – it's just a nap,” said Cathy Taylor.

On Thursday afternoon, Milton was heading toward the Atlantic Ocean as a post-tropical cyclone with winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) – just shy of hurricane force.

As Police Chief John Cosby crossed the bridge from the mainland to Anna Maria Island early Thursday, he breathed a sigh of relief. Almost all residents were evacuated. There were no injuries or deaths and the planned storm surge never occurred. After fearing his police department would be underwater, it stayed dry.

“It’s nice to have a place to come back to,” he said.

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This version removes an incorrect reference to 150 tornadoes. Scientists say it's too early to know how many tornadoes formed.

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Payne and Daley reported from Palmetto, Florida. Associated Press journalists Holly Ramer and Kathy McCormack in New Hampshire; Terry Spencer in Matlacha, Fla.; Stephany Matat in Fort Pierce, Fla.; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale; Michael Goldberg in Minneapolis; Joshua Boak in Washington; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and Adam Geller in New York contributed to this report.