Friday, October 11, 2024, 12:59
The United States authorities have updated the death toll, which increases to at least 16 fatalities after Hurricane ‘Milton’ passed through Florida, the second storm to hit the south of the country after ‘Helene’ struck two weeks ago. and leaves serious material damage still unquantified. Deadly tornadoes, torrential rain, flooding and strong gusts of wind hit the state from coast to coast as the cyclone moved east before heading into the Atlantic Ocean early Thursday morning.
The areas that have recorded the most deaths are Santa Lucía and Volusia counties, with six and four deaths, respectively. In the first of them, it was the tornadoes prior to the arrival of ‘Milton’ that killed six elderly residents of a nursing home and in the second, two women died after trees fell on their home. There, another person suffered a heart attack during the hurricane, but bad weather prevented emergency services from arriving in time. Deaths have also been recorded in Pinellas (2), Citrus (1) and Hillsborough (1) counties, according to the count of the American television network CNN.
The effects of the storm continue to be felt in Florida. Still this Friday, more than 2.9 million people are without electricity a day after ‘Milton’ made landfall on Siesta Key, in Sarasota County. The service is gradually recovering. As of early Thursday morning, there were 3.3 million homes without electricity supply.
Some airports in the State affected by the storm are preparing to resume operations or have already recovered air traffic. Both Tampa and Fort Myers intend to reopen this Friday morning. For its part, the Orlando airfield began to receive a limited number of domestic flights at night.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has assured that more than 300 people and 49 pets have been rescued, while hundreds of emergency services personnel continue with rescue efforts throughout the state. The Republican leader has visited Sarasota County, one of the most affected by the hurricane. “With the full support of the State and the prior preparation of more than 50,000 power line installers, utility companies and telecommunications providers are working hard to restore power and connectivity to these communities as quickly as possible,” he says. .
One of the most spectacular rescues has been that of a man rescued by a United States Coast Guard helicopter on the high seas, about 50 kilometers off the coast of Longboat Key, clinging to a refrigerator after suffering the shipwreck while repairing his boat. .
Coming home
Residents who had been evacuated ventured back to their homes as soon as roads and bridges reopened, navigating a ground littered with power lines, downed trees and debris. But the authorities ask citizens not to go out due to the danger of flooding even though ‘Milton’ has already left the peninsula.
The western coast city of Sarasota came back to life Thursday morning as residents rushed to inspect the damage. Many of them feel “lucky” to find their properties intact because it could have been “a catastrophe.” The cyclone dropped from strength five to three upon making landfall and then turned into a powerful tropical storm, which reduced its destructive capacity.
‘Milton’ is the fifth hurricane to make landfall in the United States so far this year and the third to impact Florida. Helene became the second deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States in the last 50 years, after Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,833 people in 2005.
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