Politics
Hurricane Milton costs Florida billions in damage and wreaks havoc on countless lives
Recovery efforts are continuing in central Florida, as the devastation caused by Hurricane Milton becomes clear.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden surveyed the devastation, saying he was thankful the damage from the storm was not as severe as officials had anticipated. He did, however, make clear that it was very much a “cataclysmic” event for people caught in Milton’s path, which has been blamed for at least 11 deaths and is strongly indicative of a worsening climate crisis.
Days after the storm hit, 500,000 homes and business in Florida remain without electricity, according to Poweroutage.us, and fuel shortages are ongoing.
While recovery efforts are gaining steam, experts warn that a full rebound will take far longer.
Karen and Burton Webb, whose property was washed through by Hurricane Milton surge, find pieces of their furniture a block from their house, in Englewood, Florida on Sunday Rebecca Blackwell/The AP
What is involved in the recovery efforts in storm-hit Florida?
Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis has cautioned that debris removal could take up to a year, despite the fact that Florida authorities have dispatched nearly 3,000 workers to the cleanup.
Despite rarely agreeing with Joe Biden, DeSantis also confirmed that the President has approved 100 per cent federal reimbursement for those efforts for at least 90 days.
“The (removal of) debris has to be 24/7 over this 90-day period,” DeSantis said while standing next to a pile of furniture, lumber and other debris in Treasure Island, an island city near St. Petersburg that has been battered by both Hurricane Milton and Helene which hit just a few weeks before.
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm, tearing across the centre of the state, flooding barrier islands and spawning deadly tornadoes. Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations.
Overall, more than a thousand people had been rescued in the wake of the storm as of Saturday, DeSantis said.
Ron DeSantis, centre, takes questions during a news conference in front of a St. Lucie County Sheriff’s parking facility in Florida after Milton hit Wilfredo Lee/The AP
National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Close said rivers will continue to rise for several days and result in flooding, mostly around Tampa Bay and northwards. Those areas got the most rain, which came on top of a wet summer that included several hurricanes.
Meanwhile, countless residents unable to move back into their damaged homes are continuing to make other arrangements – although it hasn’t been easy for many.
Many Floridians journeying home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, spent much of the weekend searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.
In St. Petersburg alone, scores of people lined up at a station that had no gas, hoping it would arrive soon.
DeSantis told reporters on Saturday that the state had opened three fuel distribution sites and planned to open several more. The governor also announced that residents are entitled to 10 gallons (37.85 litres) each, free of charge.
“Obviously as power gets restored… you’re going to see the fuel flowing. But in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” he said.
Officials were also replenishing gas stations with the state’s fuel stockpiles and providing generators to stations that remained without power.
Law enforcement members help a motorist that ran out of fuel while waiting for in line for fuel at a depot on Saturday in Plant City, Florida Chris O’Meara/The AP
How is the United States preparing for the rest of hurricane season?
On Sunday, President Biden surveyed hurricane damage on a helicopter flight between Tampa and St. Pete Beach on the Gulf Coast.
From the air, he saw the torn-up roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. On the ground, the president saw waterlogged household furnishings piled up outside flooded homes; other houses had collapsed.
Biden praised the first responders, some of whom had come from Canada.
“It’s in moments like this we come together to take care of each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans,” he said.
Biden also announced $612 million (€560m) for six Department of Energy projects in hurricane-affected areas to bolster the region’s electric grid. That figure includes $47 million (€43m) for Gainesville Regional Utilities and $47 million (€43m) for Switched Source to partner with Florida Power and Light.
With a little more than three weeks before the presidential election, the hurricanes have added another dimension to the closely contested presidential race.
President Joe Biden speaks in front of a damaged building in St. Pete Beach, Florida during a tour of areas affected by Hurricane Milton on Sunday Manuel Balce Ceneta/The AP
Republican nominee Donald Trump has said the Biden administration’s storm response was lacking, particularly in western North Carolina after Helene. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have criticised Trump for promoting falsehoods about the federal response.
Biden said Trump was “not singularly” to blame for the spread of misinformation – but that he has the “biggest mouth.”
“They blame me for everything. It’s OK,” Trump told Fox News.
Biden has pressed for Congress to act quickly to make sure the Small Business Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have the money they need to get through hurricane season, which tends to come to an end on 30 November in the Atlantic Ocean.
On Friday, he said that Milton alone had caused an estimated $50 billion (€45b) in damages.
On Saturday, Moody’s Analytics estimated that economic costs from the storm will be closer to $85 billion (€77b), including upwards of $70 billion (€64b) in property damage and an economic output loss of up to $15 billion (€13b).
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees FEMA, said the hurricane season is far from over and there are other natural disasters for which the agency must prepare.
“We don’t know what’s coming tomorrow, whether it’s another hurricane, a tornado, a fire, an earthquake. We have to be ready” Mayorkas told CBS.
As the recovery continues, Governor DeSantis has warned people to be cautious, citing ongoing safety threats including downed power lines and standing water.
Residents walk past a damaged home and the displaced roof of their 55+ mobile home community’s tiki hut after the passage of Hurricane Milton in Englewood, Florida on Sunday Rebecca Blackwell/The AP
How did climate change impact Milton?
Human-caused climate change gave a significant boost to Milton, intensifying the storm’s rainfall by 20 per cent to 30 per cent and strengthening its winds by about 10 per cent, scientists have announced.
World Weather Attribution researchers said that, without climate change, a hurricane like Milton would make landfall as a weaker Category 2, which is not considered a “major” storm, instead of a Category 3, which it was eventually categorised as.
Climate change also boosted Helene’s wind and rain. The two storms made an otherwise unusually quiet Atlantic hurricane season roar to life.
Scientists also warn that the season is far from over. So far, five hurricanes have made landfall in the US – and the record is six.
Jeff Masters, meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections, said the record may be matched since tropical cyclone activity is expected to be above-average for the rest of October and November.
Politics
Niger Explosion: Governance must prioritize human lives through proactive policies – Peter Obi
Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that Ukraine will never recognise occupied Ukrainian territories as being part of Russia, even if pressured to do so by allies, dampening hopes that Donald Trump may be able to strike a peace deal.
‘No matter what anyone wants, even if all the allies in the world unite, we will never recognise the occupied territories [as part of Russia]. This is impossible,’ the Ukrainian president emphasised.
‘We will not legally recognise them. For us, they will always remain occupied territories until we liberate them.’
Trump, who took office for a second term on Monday and was last in power before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has repeatedly said he could end the war swiftly, without specifying how.
His newly-appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that ending the war was a priority for the president, but would only be possible if both sides make significant concessions.
‘Anytime you bring an end to a conflict between two sides, neither of whom can achieve their maximum goals, each side is going to have to give up something,’ he told CNN, adding that ultimately the decision would be down to the Ukrainians and Russians.
It comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that Moscow sees a small window of opportunity to forge agreements with the new US administration.
‘We cannot say anything today about the degree of the incoming administration’s capacity to negotiate, but still, compared to the hopelessness in every aspect of the previous White House chief (Joe Biden), there is a window of opportunity today, albeit a small one,’ Ryabkov said, according to Interfax.
Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that Ukraine will never recognise occupied Ukrainian territories as being part of Russia
Donald Trump, who took office for a second term on Monday, has said he could end the war swiftly, without specifying how
A Russian soldier fires a self-propelled gun
‘It’s therefore important to understand with what and whom we will have to deal, how best to build relations with Washington, how best to maximise opportunities and minimise risks,’ he said, speaking at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies, a think-tank in Moscow.
Trump warned on Tuesday that he would likely impose more sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin refused to negotiate to end the nearly three-year-old conflict.
He gave no details on the possible additional sanctions on Russia, which is already under significant Western sanctions over the war.
The new president also issued a blow to the Kremlin on Tuesday, accusing Putin of ‘destroying Russia‘ with his failed war as he urged him to ‘make a deal’ to end the conflict.
‘He has to make a deal. I think he is destroying Russia by not making a deal,’ Trump said in a stark warning to the dictator.
‘I think Russia is going to be in big trouble,’ he added, saying that Putin ‘can’t be thrilled that he’s not doing so well.’
‘I mean, he works hard, but most people thought the war would be over in about a week, and now it’s been three years, right?’
The Russian economy was sinking, he went on, with inflation a major threat.
Putin, 72, earlier said he was ready to engage with Trump but still insisted on an outcome favouring Russia.
‘We are open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict. The most important thing here is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis,’ said the Russian ruler. An initial phone call is expected by Moscow to take place soon.
Trump said Zelensky was ready for a deal to halt the debilitating conflict, and the 78-year-old US leader said he planned to meet Putin with whom he had a ‘great relationship’ during his first term.
‘We’re going to try to do it as quickly as possible. You know, the war between Russia and Ukraine should never have started.’
Trump warned on Tuesday that he would likely impose more sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin refused to negotiate to end the nearly three-year-old conflict
After months of Ukraine occupying parts of Russia’s Kursk region as it aims to improve its position in the event of talks, Zelensky stated that any dialogue could only go ahead with Kyiv in a position of strength.
‘Putin cannot be treated as legitimate in this situation. He has violated everything. He must understand his transgression,’ the Ukrainian president said today, adding that if Putin was ‘approached as an equal – that would be a loss for Ukraine.’
But, he said, his government’s top priority was to find a way to halt the war, which has claimed the lives of at least 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers, according to figures released by Ukraine in December.
‘We must find all possible ways to end the hot phase of the war. This is the number one issue,’ Zelensky said.
‘There can be many talks, but the main goal is to stop the active phase. This is the first guarantee of security.’
Russia has occupied Crimea since its 2014 invasion of the territory. Months later it took large parts of the Donbas region, launching a was under the guise of a separatist uprising.
Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian forces have controlled large swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, since a surprise attack in August, Kyiv’s forces occupy around 600 sq km of Russian territory.
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