Sarasota narrowly dodged a worst-case scenario.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: October 11, 2024
Host: WSLR news reporter Ramon Lopez has a summary of the impact of Hurricane Milton and where we are in terms of recovery.
Palm tree on Second Street in downtown Sarasota. Photo: Tom Walker
Ramon Lopez: Hurricane Milton left a trail of destruction across the width of central Florida, with several million statewide still without power. Locally, Florida Power and Light at 1pm Friday reported that nearly 300,000 FPL customers in Sarasota County had lost power, but over half of them now have their lights and AC back on. 206,000 Manatee homes lost power, with 140,000 still in the dark.
Unlike many tropical systems, Milton moved west to east over much of the Gulf of Mexico — fueled by plenty of warm water — before smashing into Florida. And Milton featured the full suite of hurricane impacts. The wind and storm surge warnings for Milton have been discontinued, but hazards in the hurricane’s aftermath remain, including damaged buildings, downed power lines and deep floodwater to the north of us.
Mass evacuations undoubtedly lowered the number of casualties. But the death toll mounts. At least 16 people have died after Hurricane Milton devastated portions of Florida. Six people in a St Lucie County retirement village were killed by a tornado brought on by Milton.
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday night. Siesta Key was in the bullseye. Milton spawned dozens of twisters, strong winds, torrential rainfall, and devastating six feet or more of storm surge in places along the west Florida coastline, from Fort Myers in the south to coastal counties above Sarasota and Manatee.
But the worst fears about the monster storm were not realized, and it entered and exited the state much faster than initially expected.
Casey Key, the day after Milton made landfall. Photo: Ramon Lopez
Friday morning, County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumaneyi provided an update on the situation in Sarasota County.
Sandra Tapfumaneyi: We are heavily into our response operations for Hurricane Milton.
I also wanted to give you an update on solid waste. So solid waste for the county will be starting operations today. A regular pickup for household garbage as well as any yard debris can be left out and they will pick that up. They will not be able to do recycling just yet, but they will be posting information on when that will be available coming soon. Also, just keep in touch for this today. Make sure that you’re staying posted on our website scgov.net, as we get information about feeding sites and other resources in the community, we will be posting that throughout the day. So just stay tuned for additional information. Our 311 line is up and running.
And also one last reminder, if you can stay off the barrier islands, unless you are a resident and you’re trying to access the islands to get home, we would ask that you leave. The barrier islands for those that work or live there, as well as the cleanup crews that are out and the assessment teams. Stay tuned, we’ll have more information throughout the day.
RL: This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.