Hurricane Milton: Roughly 460,000 Floridians Still Without Power

Floridians are still reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, as over 400,000 residents still had no power early Monday.

At least 17 people were killed after the storm made landfall on Wednesday as a Category 3, USA Today reported.

Residents who were still recovering from Hurricane Helene are now working to clear debris and get back on their feet after Milton ravaged the state.

The USA Today article continued:

As of Monday morning, roughly 460,000 businesses and homes in Florida remained without power, according to the USA TODAY power outage tracker. The west-central coast continues to be the hardest hit, with nearly 170,000 outages in Hillsborough County and another 95,000 in Pinellas County. Further south, 39,000 outages were reported in Sarasota County and just under 52,000 homes and businesses in Manatee County were without power Monday morning.

On Saturday, residents coming back home after evacuating prior to the hurricane’s landfall were forced to wait in long lines at gas stations, the Weather Channel reported on Monday.

“M​any gas stations were crippled by power outages that shut off the electricity that controls their pumps. By Sunday afternoon, Gas Buddy reported that 88% of gas stations in the Tampa area were without gas,” the outlet said.

To remedy the problem, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced on Saturday the state opened several fuel distribution sites allowing residents to get 10 gallons of gas at no charge as the recovery efforts continued.

“By Sunday evening a dozen of those distribution sites were open,” the article read.

Aerial video shows the destruction the storm left in its wake with destroyed homes and flooded neighborhoods, per ABC 11. A reporter for the outlet noted that other dangers pertaining to the floodwaters were downed power lines, snakes, and alligators:

Hurricane Milton made landfall near Tampa on Wednesday before moving past Orlando and eventually heading out to the Atlantic, AccuWeather reported on Friday.

“Earlier in the week, the storm intensified from a tropical storm to a major Category 5 hurricane over the ultra-warm Gulf of Mexico waters in 24 hours, taking an unusual track east and then east northeast toward Florida,” the article read, adding that “Milton officially made landfall near Siesta Key around 8:30 p.m. EST as a Category 3 hurricane.”