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.

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.

National Weather Service meteorologist