US President Joe Biden says the damage bill from Hurricane Milton is in the region of $US50 billion ($74 billion), after it slammed into Florida as a category three storm, killing at least 16 people and leaving a wave of destruction in its tracks.
He gave the figure during a White House briefing update on the hurricane response.
“Experts estimate… that it caused damages of around $50 billion,” Biden told reporters.
The president said his administration was “providing all the resources needed” to state and local officials and they’d been in constant contact.
During the update, Biden thanked first responders, those working to get back power in the region and volunteers helping with recovery efforts.
The White House announced on Friday the president will visit hurricane impacted parts of Florida on Sunday.
Florida residents slogged through flooded streets, gathered up scattered debris and assessed damage to their homes on Friday after Hurricane Milton smashed through coastal communities and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes.
While the hurricane spared densely populated Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialised, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned people to not let down their guard.
He cited ongoing safety threats including downed power lines and standing water that could hide dangerous objects.
“We’re now in the period where you have fatalities that are preventable,” DeSantis said on Friday.
“You have to make the proper decisions and know that there are hazards out there.”
Arriving just two weeks after the devastating Hurricane Helene, Milton flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays ‘ baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane.
As homeowners assessed damage to their property, about 2.2 million customers in Florida remained without power Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us. The 260,000 people in St. Petersburg were told to boil water before drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth, until at least Monday.
Before noon on Friday, cars with residents returning to evacuated homes in southwest Florida crept along in a slow-moving line of traffic across Interstate 75, also known as Alligator Alley.
Many had evacuated to the state’s Atlantic Coast near Fort Lauderdale and Miami. On Thursday evening, bucket trucks, fuel tankers, portable bathroom trailers and a convoy of emergency vehicles streamed toward the hardest-hit areas.
Finding gas was still a challenge. Fuel stations were still closed as far away as Ocala, more than a two and a half hour drive north of where the storm made landfall as a Category 3 near Siesta Key in Sarasota County on Wednesday night.
As residents rushed back to their homes to assess the damages, tourists who had come for a vacation found that Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld had reopened Friday.
Orlando International Airport, the state’s busiest, said departures for domestic flights and international flights would resume Friday, after resuming domestic arrivals Thursday evening.
The airport had minor damage, including a few leaks and downed trees. Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers also reopened Friday.
MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa and Patrick Space Force Base near Cocoa Beach remain closed, with only authorised personnel allowed on the bases. MacDill, home to US Central Command and Special Operations Command, experienced some damage and flooding, Air Force officials said. Patrick was spared any significant damage.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has enough money to deal with the immediate needs of people impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton but will need additional funding at some point, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said Friday.
The disaster assistance fund helps pay for the swift response to hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other disasters across the U.S. Congress recently replenished the fund with $20 billion — the same amount as last year.
