Florida
Hurricane Milton death toll up to 17 as Florida faces weeks of flood threat
At least 17 people have died after Hurricane Milton devastated Florida, as forecasters warned that the threat of flooding will remain in place for “days to weeks”.
Authorities and residents are assessing the extent of the damage from the storm, with those in the west-central region the worst impacted.
Around 1.8 million homes and businesses in Florida still without power early on Saturday, .
More than 50,000 linemen have been deployed in an effort to restore power, governor Ron DeSantis said.
A phosphate mine operator warned that during the storm its facility dumped thousands of gallons of pollution into Tampa Bay as drains overflowed.
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday night near Sarasota County’s Siesta Key, spawning dozens of tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and devastating storm surge.
Six people were killed in St Lucie County retirement village after a dozen twisters spawned in the region within 20 minutes.
Ferocious winds caused a crane to collapse into The Tampa Bay Times in St Petersburg, while the Tampa Bay Rays said the roof of their Tropicana Field stadium was badly damaged.
Florida residents who fled hundreds of miles to escape Hurricane Milton made slow trips home on crowded highways, weary from their long journeys and the clean up work awaiting them but also grateful to be coming back alive.
“I love my house, but I’m not dying in it,” Fred Neuman said on Friday while walking his dog outside a rest stop off Interstate 75 north of Tampa.
Mr Neuman and his wife live in Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall on Wednesday night as a powerful, Category 3 hurricane. Heeding local evacuation orders ahead of the storm, they drove nearly 500 miles (800 kilometres) to Destin on the Florida Panhandle. Neighbours told the couple the hurricane destroyed their carport and inflicted other damage, but Mr Neuman shrugged, saying their insurance should cover it.
Nearby, Lee and Pamela Essenburm made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at a picnic table as cars pulling off the slow-moving interstate waited for parking spaces outside the crowded rest stop.
Their home in Palmetto, on the south end of Tampa Bay, had a tree fall in the backyard. They evacuated fearing the damage would be more severe, worrying Milton might hit as a catastrophic Category 4 or 5 storm.
“I wasn’t going to take a chance on it,” Lee Essenbaum said. “It’s not worth it.”
Milton killed at least 10 people when it tore across central Florida, flooding barrier islands, ripping the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium and spawning deadly tornadoes.
Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations. The still-fresh devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene just two weeks earlier probably helped compel many people to flee.
“Helene likely provided a stark reminder of how vulnerable certain areas are to storms, particularly coastal regions,” said Craig Fugate, who served as administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under president Barack Obama. “When people see first hand what can happen, especially in neighbouring areas, it can drive behaviour change in future storms.”
Stuti Mishra12 October 2024 12:00
Julia Musto12 October 2024 11:30
Julia Musto12 October 2024 11:00
Rescue efforts continue in the state of Florida as fears of Hurricane Milton lingers over residents.
Hundreds of people and dozens of animals have been pulled out of floodwaters including a pig named Millie.
Julia Musto12 October 2024 10:30
Julia Musto12 October 2024 10:00
This is the moment a man clinging to an ice box in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Milton is rescued by the US Coast Guard. Rescuers located the man 30 miles off Longboat Key in Florida, after he became stranded. The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, had been aboard a fishing vessel that became disabled on Wednesday (9 October), just hours before the hurricane made landfall. He managed to radio the Coast Guard station in St Petersburg before losing communication at around 6:45pm. On Thursday, search crews located him drifting about 48 kilometres offshore, clinging to the open ice box. This dramatic video released by the Coast Guard shows a diver being lowered from a helicopter to swim to the man and rescue him.
Stuti Mishra12 October 2024 09:30
Julia Musto12 October 2024 09:00
Rainfall from Hurricane Milton was increased by 20 to 30 per cent because of the climate crisis, according to a new rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution.
Storms like Milton are now about twice as likely as they would have been without human-caused warming, the group found.
The climate crisis also made wind speeds from the hurricane approximately 10 per cent stronger.
World Weather Attribution said their findings for Milton are similar to those following Hurricane Helene.
Hotter ocean temperatures are known to supercharge hurricanes, helping them intensify. In recent years more hurricanes have been rapidly intensifying, reaching Category 5, the highest on the scale. Milton is the quickest storm on record to rapidly intensify up to Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico. Stuti Mishra12 October 2024 08:30
Stuti Mishra12 October 2024 08:05
Stuti Mishra12 October 2024 07:30
How Hurricane Helene’s ‘wake up call’ helped Florida residents prepare for Milton
FHP troopers team up with FWC for search and rescue efforts
Flamingos return to Disney habitat after Milton
Florida pig, named Millie, rescued from Hurricane Milton floodwaters
Tampa family keeps found cat safe after Milton
Hurricane Milton: Watch US Coast Guard rescue man clinging to ice box
Hurricane Milton: Watch US Coast Guard rescue man clinging to ice box
Polk County officers helped woman who went into labor during Milton
Climate crisis increased rainfall from Hurricane Milton, study finds
Aerial photos show destroyed houses in Florida after Hurricane Milton
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue have saved 104 pets so far
Plans for a new Wawa to open in Port St. Lucie were approved.
A new Wawa fuel station and convenience store will open in Port St. Lucie now that the plans have been approved.
The Wawa will be at the corner of Village Parkway and Becker Road in front of the Lowe’s which is expected to open in the summer of 2026, according to the city’s website.
The plans for a Wawa convenience store and eight fuel pumps were submitted to the city Dec. 3, 2025.
What will go in Port St. Lucie’s Southern Grove?
The plans for the Shoppes at Southern Grove show there will be a new Lowe’s store and six additional outparcels.
The six additional outparcels include the following:
- Gas station: 5,915 square feet
- Outparcel A: 1.2 acres
- Outparcel B: 1.14 acres
- Outparcel C: 1.83 acres
- Outparcel D: 1.04 acres
- Outparcel E: 1.02 acres
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
SUNRISE, Fla. – Five Florida Panthers players and five staff members will represent their home countries at the upcoming 2026 IIHF World Championship, taking place May 15 through May 31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. Games will be broadcast on NHL Network in the United States.
Marek Alscher, 22, will represent Czechia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time. He previously played for his home country at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, skating in seven games to help the Czechs capture the bronze medal over Finland. Alscher made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, notching three assists over four games played. He also skated in 52 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Florida’s affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, recording 11 points (3-8-11).
Aleksander Barkov, 30, missed the 2026 Winter Olympic Games due to injury but had been named to Finland’s preliminary roster in June of 2025. He previously earned a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games alongside current Panthers assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu, and earned a silver medal representing his home country at the 2016 IIHF Men’s World Championship. At the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, Barkov served as captain of Finland.
Anton Lundell, 24, will be participating in his second IIHF World Championship after earning a silver medal with Finland in 2021, where he posted seven points (4-3-7) in 10 games as a 19-year-old. He helped Finland capture the bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games this season and previously earned gold at the 2019 IIHF U20 WJC and 2018 IIHF U18 WJC, as well as a bronze medal at the 2021 U20 WJC.
Sandis Vilmanis, 22, will represent Latvia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time in his career. He played for Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February as well as at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, serving as an alternate captain in 2024 where he produced four points (2-2-4) over five games. Vilmanis made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, logging five points (3-2-5) in 19 games with Florida while compiling 38 points (17-21-38) in 48 American Hockey League (AHL) contests with the Panthers affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Matthew Tkachuk, 28, will attempt to become the first American to join the Triple Gold Club (Stanley Cup, World Championship Gold Medal and Olympic Gold Medal), as well as the first player in NHL history to win all three parts of the Triple Gold Club within a 12-month span. This will be Tkachuk’s first time participating in the IIHF World Championship.
In addition to his 2026 Olympic gold medal, Tkachuk also earned gold representing the United States at the 2015 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship and the 2014 U17 World Hockey Challenge, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 IIHF U20 WJC. He served as alternate captain for the U.S. at the 2026 Olympics and 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.
Florida will have four staff members representing the United States. Panthers Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson is serving as General Manager for the second time after holding the position in 2024. Panthers Head Equipment Manager Teddy Richards will serve as equipment manager and Florida’s Head Athletic Trainer Dave DiNapoli will work as athletic trainer. Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito will serve on the Advisory Group.
Panthers Assistant General Manager Gregory Campbell will assist with evaluating and selecting players for Canada.
Panthers fans can stay up to date on all the Cats’ representatives at the 2026 IIHF World Championships at FloridaPanthers.com/WorldChampionship.
2026-27 Florida Panthers Territory Memberships are available now! Click here to learn more. For all the latest in Panthers news, concerts and events at Amerant Bank Arena & FTL War Memorial, sign up for ’93 Society newsletter and receive information straight to your inbox. Visit FloridaPanthers.com or SeatGeek.com for all ticketing needs.
A Martin County slaughterhouse near Lake Okeechobee could increase toxic algal blooms in the C-44 Canal, St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
There have been 81 algal blooms in the past two years within 2 miles of a proposed slaughterhouse in western Martin County, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Algal Bloom Dashboard.
The slaughterhouse will increase pollution and bring more potentially toxic algal blooms to Lake Okeechobee, whose waters sometimes are released into the C-44 Canal and flow into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon in Stuart, opponents say.
Chancey Bay Ranch owner Tuny Mizrachi has proposed building a 56,784-square-foot slaughterhouse on 26 acres of his 2,046-acre-property at 8401 SW Connors Highway, abutting Lake O.
5 ways a slaughterhouse can increase Lake Okeechobee pollution
The Guardians of Martin County have raised at least five concerns with the Martin County Commission:
- Meat processing facilities, though necessary, have the potential to be noisy nuisances and significant sources of disease and pollution for air and water.
- The facility would be a new source of pollution in a watershed that’s designated as “impaired” because of elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus.
- The facility would be a potential new source of pollutants near one of Martin County’s lowest income and most ethnically diverse communities.
- There’s no evidence the facility has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, or plans to follow effluent limitation guidelines or conduct water-quality monitoring.
- The South Florida Water Management District has permitted the facility to withdraw 6.7 million gallons of water per year for 20 years from Florida’s surficial aquifer, despite it being subject to varying levels of saltwater intrusion, especially in Martin County. The SFWMD has designated all of Martin County a Water Resource Caution Area.
Blood, feces, oil, grease, ammonia and antibiotic residue from the proposed slaughterhouse would contribute to harmful algal blooms, including toxic cyanobacteria, Martin County Administrator Don Donaldson wrote to the DEP and SFWMD.
Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.
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