Hurricane Milton updates: 10 killed in Florida, 3 million lose power

Property damage from Hurricane Milton is likely to cause between $30bn and $50bn in insured losses, the highest total from a storm in two years, according to the Fitch credit rating agency.

That would bring total yearly insured losses for insurers in the state to more than $100bn for a fifth year in a row, said Fitch Ratings in a report.

“The Florida homeowners’ insurance market’s precarious position will weaken further with the destruction generated by Milton,” said the agency.

This live page is now closed. Read more about Milton’s destructive path, here.

And see pictures of the hurricane’s aftermath after tearing across Florida, here.

This live page will be closing soon. Here were the top updates as the toll from Hurricane Milton came into clearer focus:

• Authorities have said at there have been 10 reports of deaths, which made landfall in Florida on Wednesday night.
• At least 340 people have been rescued in Florida so far, with flooding continuing in some areas and more than three million without power.
• US President Biden has called on Congress to quickly pass more disaster funding, as he condemns Republican candidate Trump for spreading misinformation about the storm.
• The National Hurricane Center has said the tornadoes spread by Milton – which totalled about 150 – were particularly strong, further drawing attention to the storm’s unique severity.
  

  

Governor DeSantis outlined a number of resources available for people affected by the storm, including loans for hard-hit businesses and a 24-hour support hotline.

All affected businesses can apply for interest-free $50,000 loans, said DeSantis. Businesses in the agriculture or aquaculture sectors are eligible for $100,000 loans, while those in the cattle industry are eligible for $150,000 loans.

Meanwhile, residents can call the Hope Florida hotline – available at all hours – for any urgent assistance, he added.

Work to restore power is under way, and the state will make sure petrol gets to petrol stations as soon as possible, even using the Florida Highway Patrol to rush in tanks if necessary, the governor said.

The event underscores the severity of the Atlantic Hurricane season, which had been forecast to be above average.

Three hurricanes had previously made landfall in Florida in 1871, 1886, 1964, 2004, and 2005, according to Colorado State University senior research scientist Phil Klotzbach.

In 2004, four hurricanes almost made landfall in a single year, Klotzbach said.

While Charley, Frances and Jeanne did make landfall in Florida, Ivan made landfall in Alabama, just west of the Alabama-Florida border.

The US president warns that conditions in Florida remain dangerous and people should wait for the “all clear” from local officials before going out.

“We know from previous hurricanes that it is often the case that more lives are lost in the days following the storm than actually during the storm itself,” Biden said. He noted that he and Vice President Kamala Harris have been in “constant contact” with state and local officials, offering “everything they need”.

Biden also pushed back against “disinformation” he said was endangering those working on the front lines.

“Despite the misinformation and lies, the truth is we’re providing the resources needed to rescue, recover and rebuild,” Biden said.

At least nine airports in western Florida are closed due to the storm’s impact, according to USA Today. Among them are two of the US’s busiest – Tampa International Airport and Orlando International Airport – which received a combined 39 million passengers in 2023.

Speaking to CNN, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said roughly a dozen major airports in the region are still partially or fully open. He said the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) was engaged with the regional airports, more of which he expects to resume operations tomorrow.

The US president has called on Congress to reconvene to pass more disaster funding as Florida takes on the aftermath of Milton.

“I think that Congress should be coming back and moving on emergency needs immediately,” said Biden from the White House when asked about funding available for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA). “This is going to be a long haul for total rebuilding.

The US House of Representatives and Senate are currently on recess until November 12.

Milton has been re-classified as a “Hurricane Force Extratropical Low” as it moves across the Atlantic after tearing from west to east across Florida.

The storm was moving north, northeast with maximum sustained winds of 75mph.

The National Hurricane Center warned that storm surges were still occurring in areas of the southeastern United States.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall last month, and now Milton, storm relief has become the latest political cudgel in the US presidential election.

Trump has accused the Biden administration of a lax response to the federal relief effort, a claim that Biden and his officials have rejected.

The Republican candidate has also spread falsehoods about federal relief, including the untrue claim that those affected by Helene would only receive $750 in cash for the totality of federal support.

Harris has again weighed in on the issue, seeking to draw a counterpoint to Trump.

“Yesterday, I met with members of the federal team that is working around the clock to deliver relief to Americans affected by Helene and Milton,” Harris wrote on X.

“Meanwhile, Donald Trump spread lies and educated us about the sound of the wind,” she said.

Harris was referring to a rant Trump went on during a rally in Pennsylvania, in which he decried wind turbine technology. He said supporters of the alternative energy think, “the wind: it sounds so wonderful.”

The city had told residents to remain in place as damage was assessed across the coastal city.

Some areas had been closed to the public amid the rescue effort, but all restrictions have now been lifted.

The city warned that traffic lights remain out across Tampa, home to about 400,000 residents.

While Milton’s storm surge was not as catastrophic as feared, the tornadoes it stirred up had unexpected force, according to the director of the National Hurricane Center, Michael Brennan.

Speaking to CNN, Brennan said: “The tornadoes we saw develop yesterday in Milton were really kind of supercharged compared to the typical tornadoes you see in a hurricane environment.”

He added: “They were longer living. They were more powerful. There were more of them.”

About 150 tornadoes swirled across Florida due to the storm, killing at least five people in St Lucie County.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has given an update on the ongoing response to Hurricane Milton.

So far, some 4,300 people have been rescued, Mayorkas said, adding that while the storm has passed, there is still danger from fallen power lines, debris and nonpotable water.

Mayorkas emphasised that no resources dedicated to the response to Hurricane Helene, which tore through the US southeast in late September, will be diverted to Milton, saying the agency can respond effectively to both crises.

Read our news report rounding up all the latest on Milton here.

Rescue teams found the boy hanging on to a piece of fence and pulled him out of the water in Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, according to the county sheriff, Chad Chronister.

14 year-old boy found floating on a piece of fence and rescued by teamHCSO. pic.twitter.com/m0FalN5DjZ

— Chad Chronister (@ChadChronister) October 10, 2024

Let’s bring you up to speed:

• Hurricane Milton has weakened to a Category 1 storm after barreling into Florida and killing at least five people.
• The storm’s centre has now shifted into the Atlantic Ocean, but dangerous wind gusts and floodwater are expected to continue in Florida’s coastal areas.
• More than 3 million homes and businesses are without power and many roads are blocked by trees and debris.
• Officials in the hard-hit Florida counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee are urging residents to stay home.
• Rescuers are racing to reach people stranded in flooded areas, with hundreds so far pulled from apartment homes, hospitals and retirement centres, reported Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro from Clearwater, Florida.
• Florida Governor Ron Desantis said the storm had caused “significant” damage but was not the “worst-case scenario”.