Many Florida residents were returning to their homes Thursday after Hurricane Milton pummelled the state, the second major hurricane in two weeks.
Millions of people in several counties had been ordered to evacuate earlier this week as Milton approached.
In Palmetto, southwest of Tampa, resident Natasha Ducre and her family of seven returned from a government shelter to find their home demolished and unlivable — furniture and other belongings destroyed by heavy rainwater. The roof in her kitchen had collapsed, with debris now carpeting the floor. Their home destroyed, siblings Saboria, 4, and Messiah Tyler, 3, had nowhere to sleep but the backseat of a car.
Farther north in St. Petersburg, powerful winds and rain shredded the roof of the Tropicana Field Stadium, home to the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball, where several stadium workers were taking shelter. The team said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done.
Milton slammed into Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, killing at least 5 people, spawning tornadoes and leaving more than 3 million homes and businesses without power. The state’s central Gulf Coast was hardest hit by the outages, including Hardee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.
The storm came after Hurricane Helene ravaged several southeastern states as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 220 people.
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
