Florida reels from Hurricane Milton as death toll climbs to 16

Nearly 2.5 million households and businesses were still without power as Milton crashed into the Florida on Wednesday

The death toll from Hurricane Milton rose to at least 16 on Friday, officials in Florida said, as residents began the painful process of piecing their lives and homes back together.

Nearly 2.5 million households and businesses were still without power, and some areas in the path cut through the Sunshine State by the monster storm from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean remained flooded.

Milton crashed into the Florida Gulf Coast late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm, with powerful winds smashing communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, which killed 237 people across the US southeast, including in Florida.

So far, though, it appeared that tornadoes, rather than floodwaters, were responsible for many of the storm's deaths.

"It was pretty scary," said Susan Stepp, a 70-year-old resident of Fort Pierce, a city on Florida's Atlantic coast where four people died in a tornado spawned by Milton.

"They did find some people just outside dead, in a tree," she told AFP. "I wish they would have evacuated."

Stepp's husband Bill said a tornado "picked up my 22-ton motor home and threw it across the yard."

"Scary and heartbreaking at the same time, to see much damage and all things you really love just gone, but it's only things, and we're still here," the 72-year-old said.

At least six people were killed in St. Lucie County, four in Volusia County, two in Pinellas County, and one each in Hillsborough, Polk, Orange and Citrus counties, local officials said.

The storm downed power lines, shredded the roof of the Tampa baseball stadium and inundated homes, but Florida was able to avoid the level of catastrophic devastation that officials had feared.

"The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario," Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference.

The National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings across the state Wednesday, the most ever issued for a single calendar day for the state in records dating back to 1986, wrote hurricane expert Michael Lowry.

"It is not easy to think you have everything and suddenly you have nothing," said Lidier Rodriguez, who was forced to leave his flooded apartment near Tampa Bay.

Search operations were ongoing Friday, and the Coast Guard reported the spectacular rescue of a boat captain who rode out the storm clinging to a cooler in the Gulf of Mexico.

"This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner," Dana Grady, the US Coast Guard's Sector St. Petersburg command center chief, said in a statement.

President Joe Biden on Thursday urged people to stay inside in the aftermath of the storm, with downed power lines and debris creating dangerous conditions.

In a video posted on social media, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania were praying for Florida residents affected by the storm and urged them to vote for him.

"Hopefully, on January 20th you're going to have somebody that's really going to help you and help you like never before," the former president said, referring to the presidential inauguration date.

Hurricane Helene struck Florida late last month, and the back-to-back storms have become election fodder as Trump spreads conspiracy theories claiming Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are abandoning victims.

Biden snapped back on Thursday, telling Trump to "get a life."

Scientists say extreme rainfall and destructive storms are occurring with greater severity and frequency as temperatures rise due to climate change.

As warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, they provide more energy for storms as they form.

"There is no question it needs to be a serious wake-up call for everyone in terms of climate change," Kristin Joyce, a 72-year-old interior designer, told AFP in Sarasota Bay as she surveyed the damage.