TAMPA, Fla. — We were still mucking the floors and ripping out drywall when we saw the first forecast.

The National Hurricane Center released the graphic, an ugly white blob over the Gulf of Mexico, at 11 a.m. last Saturday. It reached us via texts from our cousins and alerts from the local news or guys showing us their phone screen in line ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — By Friday evening, Jan Elizabeth Campbell was tired.

Tired of walking up and down 11 flights in a pitch-black stairwell to get out of her downtown St. Petersburg senior living complex, 540 Town Center.

Tired of living without air conditioning, without water, without hot food.

Tired of hauling all her devices to a nearby Wendy�...Read more

Oranges and some citrus trees are lying useless on the ground in Florida’s groves after Hurricane Milton tore through the state, setting back growers just as they hoped the worst for the struggling industry was over.

The powerful storm moved through key citrus-producing counties after making landfall in Florida Wednesday night, killing at ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Mike Garcia’s boots sank into the earth as he walked the drowned fields of Orlando’s Everoak Farm in the wake of Hurricane Milton’s violent visit. The urban oasis off Carrington Road just outside the Baldwin Park neighborhood has been serving the city for five-and-a-half years. He’s been market farming for longer than ...Read more

Hurricane Milton may have dissipated over the Atlantic Ocean, but the floodwaters it left across Florida still pose a major risk to human health and safety.

Even though the risk of drowning or getting injured in rising, fast-moving water is past, standing water remains treacherous to navigate and likely harbors dangerous diseases. Walking in it...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tens of thousands of Central Floridians were still waiting to have their power restored Saturday — two days after Hurricane Milton ripped through the region

Local utilities promised most customers would get their lights turned back on this weekend.

PowerOutage.us was reporting at 1:30 p.m. that 77,355 customers of various ...Read more

MIAMI — Holmes Beach, a popular Gulf vacation spot off Bradenton, reopened to residents and business owners Saturday at 8 a.m.

Holmes Beach Police Department said in a post on social media that you must have a reentry tag issued by the city or proof of residency showing you live in Holmes Beach to enter. Police said they are not allowing ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A stunningly precise forecast of Hurricane Milton’s track gave Floridians a strong head start to prepare this past week. It marked the latest instance that a major hurricane has been mapped in precise detail — its path was accurately predicted a whole four days before it made landfall.

Milton’s first cone ...Read more

MIAMI — As Hurricane Milton barreled towards Florida’s Gulf Coast, Primitivo Cesario planned to ride it out with his family in their trailer home in Ruskin, on the eastern shore of Tampa Bay. But he heeded dire warnings from public officials and evacuated to a shelter several miles away, along with everyone else at Fairmont Mobile Estates, ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tens of thousands of Central Floridians were still waiting to have their power restored on Friday, a day after Hurricane Milton ripped through the region, but local utilities promised most customers would get their lights turned back on this weekend.

One of the area’s largest providers, the Orlando Utilities Commission, said...Read more

SARASOTA, Fla. — Less than 48 hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, many residents were returning to the barrier islands off Sarasota for the first time since evacuating earlier in the week.

Late Friday morning, cars flowed freely over the John Ringling Causeway leading from Sarasota onto St. Armands Key, a few hours ...Read more

MIAMI — Humans were not the only primates affected by Hurricane Milton. The Center for Great Apes in Wauchula suffered significant damage even though its residents are safe.

The Center for Great Apes is home to Bubbles, Michael Jackson’s former chimpanzee. It also hosts five orangutans who used to live on Jungle Island. In 2021, the Watson ...Read more

ORLANDO — As Hurricane Milton pelted Winter Park with gusty winds and rains, televisions and lights stayed on and food and air stayed cold across the city.

A mere 275 customers of the city-owned electric utility went dark — less than 2% of its 15,000 customers. That’s a sharp contrast to the hundreds of thousands who lost power across ...Read more

The closest route was through a town under a flash flood warning. Heavy rain was falling, electricity for traffic lights was spotty and wind gusts carried potentially dangerous debris.

Nonetheless, a pregnant Florida woman was in labor as Hurricane Milton was crossing Polk County, Thursday, Oct. 10, and she desperately needed to get to a ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Standing in front of the crumbled wreckage of a downtown high-rise smashed by a fallen crane, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the developer responsible should have used more “common sense” to take down heavy equipment before Hurricane Milton arrived.

He made the remarks following a news conference in which state officials ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A fishing boat captain who disappeared on his boat in the St. Petersburg area Wednesday night as Hurricane Milton made landfall was found floating in the Gulf of Mexico the next day with nothing but a cooler and a life jacket.

A Coast Guard Air Station Miami helicopter located and rescued him approximately 30 miles ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — More than 924,000 Tampa Bay customers are still without power as of Friday afternoon, as utilities providers tackle downed trees, flooded equipment and rows of poles brought down by Hurricane Milton’s Category 3 winds.

“This storm packed enough of a punch to knock out power to more than a million customers,” said Ana Gibbs...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Hurricane Milton walloped Port Canaveral on a path across Florida from Wednesday night into Thursday, but was able to open on Friday morning, although several cruise lines had to cancel or delay some sailings.

The port opened as of 11:30 a.m. with no ship restrictions, while Jetty Park and the beach will reopen on Saturday ...Read more