“The storm was significant, but fortunately the worst-case scenario did not occur,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Thursday morning.
The hurricane “weakened before making landfall, and the marine submersion, from what we know for the moment, was not as significant as that observed for Hurricane Helene“, which hit the south -eastern United States at the end of September, he added.
However, at least four deaths were recorded by local authorities after the appearance of several tornadoes which created shock in the peninsula.
Milton made landfall Wednesday evening on the west coast of Florida as a Category 3 hurricane – on a scale of 5 – and maintained powerful winds as it made its way inland, before reaching Thursday morning the Atlantic.
Milton also “caused flooding” on the east coast of the peninsula, said Ron DeSantis, but also in the heart of Florida, where Disney theme parks remained closed as a precaution.
President Joe Biden and the governor spoke by telephone Thursday morning to discuss the situation, the White House said.
– “A lot of luck” –
In Sarasota County, on the west coast of Florida, where the water rose 2.4 to 3 meters according to the governor, residents began to go out to see the damage, tree branches and road signs littering the streets.
“I think we are very lucky,” resident Carrie Elizabeth told AFP. “It will take a long time to clean up, but it could have been much worse,” she assures.
Joe Biden, however, called on the population to “stay indoors” for the moment, in particular to avoid “downed power lines, debris, and washed out roads”.
Further north, in St. Petersburg, in Tampa Bay, the hurricane tore the roof off the local professional team’s baseball stadium and collapsed a crane.
More than 3.1 million homes were without power Thursday morning across Florida, according to the governor.
Although it has left the peninsula, the hurricane continues to produce powerful winds and “heavy rain” over central and eastern Florida, the US Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.
Milton was expected to be “one of the most destructive hurricanes in more than a century in Florida,” Joe Biden warned Wednesday evening.
Two weeks after Hurricane Helene passed through the same region, which left at least 237 dead across the southeast of the United States, including at least 15 in Florida, this new hurricane worried the authorities even more. that the numerous debris caused by the first hurricane were still visible in the streets, and could be carried away by the winds.
– “Alarm bell” –
Florida, the third most populous state in the country and which attracts many tourists, is used to hurricanes.
But climate change, by warming the seas, makes their rapid intensification more likely and increases the risk of more powerful phenomena, according to scientists.
For John Marsham, a specialist in atmospheric sciences, “many aspects of Helen and Milton are entirely consistent” with what scientists anticipate in terms of climate change.
“Hurricanes need warm oceans to form, and record ocean temperatures fuel these devastating storms,” he explains.
Kristin Joyce was taking photos Thursday morning of torn tree branches in the streets of Sarasota after the hurricane.
For this septuagenarian met by AFP, Hélène and Milton “must undoubtedly serve as a wake-up call for everyone in terms of climate change”.
“Unfortunately, this should become even more the norm, and we are seeing it here,” she laments.
The two hurricanes, which occurred a few weeks before an extremely close presidential election, took on a political dimension, with Republicans and Democrats arguing over disaster aid.
Former President Donald Trump accuses the Democrats, at the head of the federal state, of having intervened too late after Hurricane Helen, allegations strongly denied by President Biden and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. They in turn accuse the Republican candidate of irresponsibly fueling disinformation around the event.
