Florida held his breath all day. Hurricane Milton finally made landfall on Wednesday, October 9, in the early afternoon, on the west coast of the state, near Siesta Key, about 100 kilometers south of Tampa, a metropolis where 3.3 million people live. . Fifteen days after facing the destructive and deadly path of Hurricane Helene, the region was experiencing violent winds, torrential rains and was under the threat of flash flooding. In the afternoon, more than 1.5 million residents were left without power as the hurricane, downgraded to Category 1 of 5, moved inland toward the Atlantic Ocean.
On CNN, viewers witnessed surreal scenes. Live from Fort Myers or St. Petersburg, your special correspondents, alone in the middle of deserted streets lashed by torrential rain, had their feet knee-deep in water or had difficulty standing. Already in the afternoon, tornadoes and strong storms, warning signs of the hurricane, had begun to hit the third most populated state in the country.
In recent days, federal and local authorities have increased warnings and implored populations located in the affected areas – some fifty of the state’s 67 counties – to leave their homes, prompting one of the largest evacuations in the state. Florida history.
Race against time
The state’s main highways were assaulted, as were gas stations, some of which were left dry. Water, sandbags and tarps were distributed to residents and 150 shelters were opened to house more than 30,000 people, according to state services.
“Florida is hit by hurricanes quite frequently, it has very good protocols to handle this type of situation, recalls Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, director of the National Disaster Preparedness Center at Columbia University in New York. But their work was hampered by the fact that at the same time, people were still cleaning up damage caused by Hurricane Helene. » In fact, a race against time has begun to try to clear the impressive mounds of debris (furniture, trees, pieces of scrap metal) that Helene left behind to prevent them from becoming projectiles.
Residents wondered how far they should flee or if they should leave. “If you are in an area where they advise you to evacuate, it is a bad idea to stay”underlines Jeffrey Schlegelmilch. The Crofts made the decision not to leave their home in Seminole, Tampa Bay. As a radiologist, Tara Kelly-Croft was supposed to be requisitioned by the St. Petersburg hospital where she works, and her husband and son evacuated, but their work schedule was changed and they ultimately decided to stay. “At the moment there are strong winds and water in our garden, but nothing alarming”described in the afternoon. The family put up large wooden panels in the windows of their house and put all the garden furniture inside.
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