Hurricane Milton: Death toll rises as Florida recovers from damage

TAMPA, Fla. - Power and other utilities continued to slowly be restored across Florida on Friday after Hurricane Milton made landfall on the Gulf Coast, flooding neighborhoods and spawning deadly tornadoes.

The death toll increased on Friday, with at least 10 people killed in the storm. 

Video: Boat captain found clinging to cooler 30 miles off Longboat Key after surviving Hurricane Milton at sea

At its peak, more than 4 million customers were without electricity in the state. Milton also flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off a baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane.

It came just two weeks after Hurricane Helene brought devastation to Florida. But despite the most recent destruction, many people expressed relief that Milton wasn't worse. The hurricane spared Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialized.

The storm tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa. Damage was widespread, and water levels may continue to rise for days, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not "the worst-case scenario."

The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet — lower than in the worst place during Helene. The storm also dumped up to 18 inches of rain in some areas.

President Joe Biden on Friday afternoon got an update on the federal government's response to the hurricane damage caused by both Milton and Helene across the U.S. Southeast. 

Hurricane Milton tornadoes and death toll 

Six people were killed in tornadoes in the Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, where homes were destroyed, authorities said. 

Police also found a woman dead under a fallen tree branch in Tampa.

In Volusia County, authorities said two people, a 79-year-old woman in Ormond Beach and a 54-year-old woman in Port Orange, were also killed when trees fell on homes.

FILE - A family stands outside their house after getting hit by a reported tornado in Fort Myers, Florida, on Oct. 9, 2024, as Hurricane Milton approaches. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

A storm recovery worker was among those killed, authorities said. Bruce Kinsler, 68, was part of a Polk County "push crew" that began clearing roads before 6 a.m. on Thursday. A truck struck Kinsler as he and a coworker were trying to clear a tree that had fallen across the road as the storm passed through the area. The driver of the truck was a county employee who was arriving to join Kinsler for post-storm recovery work.

At least 340 people and 49 pets have been rescued in ongoing efforts, DeSantis said Thursday afternoon.

Florida power outages decline, but millions still in dark

Thousands of utility crews continued to work around the clock on Friday. More than 2.15 million customers remained without power as of 5 p.m. ET, according to the tracker PowerOutage.us.

That was down from the initial total after the storm, but many residents in the Tampa Bay area may be without power for several more days.

Hurricane Leslie: Where it’s headed

Meanwhile, Hurricane Leslie was downgraded to a tropical storm and continued churning in the open Atlantic Ocean on Friday. 

The storm was expected to continue weakening "during the next couple of days," according to the National Hurricane Center.