Hurricane Milton poised to cause “awful lot of damage”

TALLAHASSEE – As potentially catastrophic Hurricane Milton headed toward the state Wednesday morning, evacuees faced gas stations that were out of fuel and utility companies warned of lengthy post-storm power outages.
Milton is forecast to make landfall early Thursday morning on Florida’s Gulf Coast and continue to pack hurricane-force winds as it crosses the state.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is “bracing” for a second major hit in two weeks, as cleanup and recovery efforts continue from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall Sept. 26 with 140 mph winds in rural Taylor County.
“While there is the hope that (Milton) will weaken before landfall, there is high confidence that this hurricane is going to produce a major, major punch and do an awful lot of damage,” DeSantis said during a news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center.
The state did not provide an estimate Wednesday of the number of people who have evacuated in advance of Milton. But bridges were already closed in Manatee County, and more closures were expected throughout the day as winds pick up.
The gas-price tracking service GasBuddy reported about 1,822 of the 7,912 gas stations in Florida, or 23 percent, were out of fuel Wednesday morning.
That included 59.24 percent in the Tampa Bay area, 35.16 percent in the Fort Myers-Naples area, 31.76 percent in Gainesville and 26.58 percent in Orlando.
Officials said this week the state did not have a fuel shortage, as ports had supplies and gas was transported into the state. DeSantis maintained Wednesday there is not a shortage while saying the state is preparing post-storm contingencies for fuel shipments because Milton could directly affect Port Tampa Bay and Port Manatee, which are important for deliveries.
Meanwhile, Florida has drawn assistance from 20 states. About 50,000 utility line workers are expected by Wednesday night to be in position to start restoring electricity after the storm passes.
Duke Energy Florida, with 16,000 workers positioned to respond, warned customers to prepare for “this catastrophic storm and a lengthy power restoration process that will result in extended outages.”
The company, which serves about 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in 34 counties, anticipates it will have to respond to more than 1 million power outages.
“While our crews are ready to begin the power restoration process as soon as it’s safe, we want to manage our customers’ expectations and ensure they are planning for extended outages,” Duke Energy Florida Storm Director Todd Fountain said in a prepared statement.
Tampa Electric, with another 5,000 utility workers available, also advised its customers to anticipate “widespread and prolonged outages.”
“Hurricane Milton is expected to cause significant destruction across the region, leading to a longer restoration process than we’ve experienced in the past,” Tampa Electric President and CEO Archie Collins said in a statement.
Florida Power & Light, which has customers on both of the state’s coasts, said heavy rain across the state from Hurricane Helene has saturated the ground and made trees and other vegetation susceptible to falling and damaging power lines.
“If Milton continues on its path, we are looking at back-to-back major hurricanes hitting Florida,” Florida Power & Light President and CEO Armando Pimentel said in a statement. “We are prepared to respond, but customers need to be ready for the very real potential of widespread, extended outages.”
Hurricane warnings were in effect Wednesday from Bonita Beach in Southwest Florida to the Suwannee River and on the East Coast from the border of St. Lucie and Martin counties to Ponte Vedra Beach in St. Johns County. Storm surge warnings were in effect from Flamingo in Monroe County to Yankeetown in Levy County and on the East Coast from Sebastian Inlet in the area of Brevard and Indian River counties north to Georgia.
Storm surge was forecast up to 15 feet from Anna Maria Island in Manatee County to Boca Grande in the area of Lee and Charlotte counties. It was forecast up to 12 feet in Tampa Bay. On the east side of the state, it was forecast up to 5 feet from Sebastian Inlet to Georgia and up to 4 feet in the St. Johns River.
State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis on Tuesday estimated potential insurance losses from the storm could reach $20 billion.
“It really depends on how the impact and damage of the storm is. Right now, as the path of the storm that is proposed, you’re looking at somewhere north of $10 (billion), maybe $20 billion worth of insured losses,” Patronis said during an appearance on the “Varney & Co.” show on Fox Business News. “The (insurance) carriers in the state of Florida, they have been able to raise the type of capital in order to handle the storm. We’ve got nine new companies coming into the state. But everything that we’re focused on right now is the urban search-and-rescue preparedness.”
Hurricane Helene has led to more than 111,000 insurance claims in Florida, with estimated insured losses of about $1.09 billion.