I’ve spent the day driving north alongside Florida’s west coast from Fort Myers.
The shoreline from Fort Myers to Tampa and a bit of past was all a part of an evacuation zone because the authorities warned of a once-in-a-generation storm and the meteorologists tried to find out the place it could hit.
Milton was, meteorologists mentioned, behaving very unusually. That nervous them. It additionally wobbled north and south because it approached the shoreline in a single day, compounding the priority.
Newest – Biden tells Trump ‘get a life’ and assist storm victims, as quantity killed rises
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Small boats relaxation on a pier after they had been unmoored throughout Milton. Pic: AP
We stopped first at Punta Gorda the place boats had been overturned within the marina however there was no main structural injury. They dodged the bullet right here.
Additional north, the coastal freeway passes Venice. There we discovered the streets suffering from foliage from the palm timber, tiles ripped from roofs and billboards down however once more, no main injury.
Casey Key lies simply north of Venice, reachable by way of bridges from the mainland. After we arrived it was closed to visitors.
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1:37
Lieutenant Dan protected and effectively after Hurricane
On foot we joined the Nationwide Guard and the native sheriff as they went house-to-house checking for anybody who might have tried to sit down it out.
The storm surge right here entered the homes however locals we spoke to guessed that it was solely a foot or two excessive. A lot decrease than that they had feared, about the identical because the surge from Hurricane Helene two weeks in the past and an enormous aid for them.
Checking the key bridges for structural injury is necessary however the authorities had opened the Sunshine Skyway Bridge main north to St Petersburg by the point I arrived.
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The roof of Tropicana Area in St Petersburg was torn off. Pic: AP
The main focus in St Petersburg itself is the Tropicana Area stadium. Dwelling to Main League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, it was getting used to accommodate emergency staff however the gentle roof was ripped off within the storm.
All in all, the west coast of Florida has been very fortunate. That is partly as a result of so many adopted the recommendation and evacuated.
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3:48
Florida escapes worst of hurricane
In fact, the hazard is that individuals might really feel the warnings had been overblown. The mayor of Tampa warned people who they’d die in the event that they stayed. Excessive? Folks did keep they usually did not die. We spoke to individuals who mentioned it was all exaggerated – politicians and media accountable as regular.
I do marvel if the large pre-storm warnings this time are partly an over-correction by the Biden administration following the outstanding disinformation marketing campaign from Donald Trump and his cohort.
He has spent the previous few weeks since Hurricane Helene claiming that the federal authority has been hindering rescue and restoration efforts, opposite to reality.
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Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed ‘they will management the climate’
And his surrogate, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, wrote on social media: “Yes they can control the weather,” including “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” It isn’t clear fairly who “they” is.
The FEMA Administrator mentioned the conspiracies had been “absolutely the worst I have ever seen”.
Hurricane Milton might have been large, sure, and given this barrage of conspiracy theories, particularly concerning the authorities failing throughout Helene, they completely needed to be ready (over-prepared?) for this.
The hurricane was not the storm individuals feared. However the storm of American politics is simply getting going. Lower than a month till the election.
