Millions in Florida still without power after Hurricane Milton

By Brad Brooks and Leonora LaPeter Anton

Millions of Floridians were still without electrical power on Friday, more than a day after Hurricane Milton roared across the midsection of the state, touching off tornadoes and leaving at least 16 people dead.

Utility workers repaired downed power lines and damaged cell phone towers, while crews from government agencies and residents armed with chain saws cleared downed trees and mopped up flooded neighborhoods in cities and towns swamped by Milton's heavy rains.

While Milton never generated the catastrophic surge of seawater that had been feared in Florida - one of the Southeast states hit by Hurricane Helene about two weeks ago - the clean-up operation could take weeks or months to complete.

"It opens your eyes to what Mother Nature can do," said Chase Pierce, a 25-year-old electrician's apprentice who, with his girlfriend, saw transformers blow up, sparks fly and a power line fall in his St. Petersburg yard.

The fifth-most-intense Atlantic hurricane on record, Milton could cost insurers between $30 billion and $60 billion, Morningstar DBRS analyst Marcos Alvarez said on Friday. But that is much lower than the $100 billion estimated by the firm earlier this week, before the storm's arrival on Wednesday evening.

The White House pledged government support as the full extent of the damage was still being surveyed.

But Republican Donald Trump, who trails Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, according to recent Reuters/Ipsos polling, attacked Harris and President Joe Biden for their handling of storm recovery efforts.

"The federal government ... has not done what you are supposed to be doing, in particular, with respect to North Carolina," he said on Thursday. North Carolina was hard-hit by Helene, and Trump faces a tight battle against Harris there.

Harris, who has said Trump is spreading lies about the government's response, hit back at the politicization of the issue during a town hall event on Univision on Thursday.

"Sadly, we have seen over the last two weeks, since Hurricane Helene, and now in the immediate aftermath of Milton, where people are playing political games," she said, without naming Trump.

Politicians of both stripes are deeply aware of how Republican President George W. Bush's approval ratings fell after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. He never recovered from the perception of many at the time that his administration's response was inadequate.

The Biden administration said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would need additional funding from Congress, where the Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate, and urged lawmakers, who are on recess, to act.

DEADLY TORNADOES

Floridians say they came through a double disaster.

While Milton came ashore on the state's western coast on Wednesday evening, some of its worst havoc was wrought more than 100 miles (160 km) away along the state's eastern shore.

There were at least 16 hurricane-related deaths, CBS News cited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as saying.

In St. Lucie County, an advance flurry of tornadoes killed several people, including at least two in the senior-living Spanish Lakes communities, according to local officials.

Between Siesta Key and Fort Myers Beach, peak water levels reached 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 m) above ground level, according a preliminary analysis posted by the National Hurricane Center.

The number of Florida power customers without electricity had dropped to about 2.44 million as of Friday morning, according the website PowerOutage.us, down from a high of more than 3.4 million in the immediate aftermath of Milton.

Some have been waiting days for power to be restored after Hurricane Helene hit the area.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis cautioned on Thursday that although the state had avoided the "worst-case scenario," the damage was still significant.