By Brad Brooks and Leonora LaPeter Anton

Recovery Efforts After Two Hurricanes in Florida

FORT PIERCE, Florida (Reuters) – Millions of Floridians began a long and difficult recovery on Friday after the state's second major hurricane in two weeks, restoring power, shoveling mud from flooded homes, and clearing mountains of debris left by Milton and Helene.

While some coastal cities, such as Tampa, were spared the catastrophic surge of seawater that many forecasters had feared, Milton brought widespread flooding and triggered deadly tornadoes on Florida's east coast, killing at least 16 people and leaving millions without power.

Many areas were still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which hit the Gulf Coast late last month before battering much of the U.S. Southeast.

During a 72-hour period this week, the Florida Department of Transportation removed 2,200 truckloads of debris—more than 40,000 cubic yards—from Pinellas County barrier islands near the mouth of Tampa Bay, Governor Ron DeSantis reported at a briefing. (A cubic yard is about twice the size of a washing machine.)

Utility workers repaired downed power lines and damaged cellphone towers, while crews from government agencies and residents armed with chainsaws cleared downed trees and mopped up flooded neighborhoods in cities and towns impacted by heavy rainfall.

By late Friday morning, the number of Florida homes and businesses without electricity had dropped to about 2.27 million, down from a high of more than 3.4 million following Milton's immediate aftermath. Some customers had already been waiting days for power restoration after Helene.

More than 6,500 National Guard members have been activated in 23 Florida counties, officials said.

President Joe Biden will visit Florida on Sunday to survey the damage, according to the White House.

In St. Pete Beach, a barrier island city, Mayor Adrian Petrila told ABC News that clearing debris from the twin storms will take weeks. "It's going to be a very long time for us," he said, adding that most of the city's houses were uninhabitable with no sewer or water services.

In Sarasota County, a bridge to the heavily impacted barrier islands reopened on Friday morning to allow residents to return to their properties, though officials warned that water and power services would likely remain limited.

In Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, emergency management official C.K. Moore reported that workers have visited over 450 homes and businesses to assess damage since Thursday. Thirteen structures were confirmed destroyed, with another 111 sustaining major damage.

Unlike Helene, whose storm surge caused most of the coastal damage, Milton's strong winds and extreme rainfall created problems throughout the county, with major flooding reported in Plant City, over 20 miles inland.

"We hope for a period of calm to clean this up and restore a sense of normalcy," Moore said, adding that additional landfills have been opened to handle storm debris.

The city of Tampa has yet to determine the total cost of the storm cleanup, according to communications director Adam Smith. He mentioned that the work would likely take months to clear fallen trees and vegetation, on top of removing household debris from Helene, which remains the city's top priority.

However, Tampa was fortunate to avoid a catastrophic storm surge after Milton's path shifted east hours before landfall, taking the hurricane south of Tampa Bay itself.

Melissa Wolcott-Martino, 81, a retired magazine editor in St. Petersburg across the bay from Tampa, expressed relief after finding her coastal home largely unscathed. "It's an absolute miracle because we were expecting a 10-foot surge, which would have been over our roof," she stated.

The Tampa zoo reported that all of its 1,000 animals remained safe, though the grounds were closed on Friday as recovery teams assessed the damage. The animals, including a dozen Caribbean flamingos, zebras, elephants, giraffes, and others, stayed in their barns and shelters on site.

Nearly 1,200 individuals have been rescued since Milton made landfall on Wednesday evening, according to DeSantis' office.

Climate Change Impact on Hurricane Milton

Milton, the fifth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, could result in insurer costs between $30 billion and $60 billion, as estimated by Morningstar DBRS analyst Marcos Alvarez. This projection is lower than the earlier estimate of up to $100 billion before the storm's arrival.

The hurricane's rapid intensification from a Category 1 to a Category 5 within 24 hours exemplifies a troubling trend of storms growing more powerful more quickly due to climate change. Milton made landfall as a major Category 3 hurricane.

The Biden administration announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would require additional funding from U.S. Congress and urged lawmakers, currently on recess, to return to Washington.

At least 16 hurricane-related deaths have been reported, according to CBS News citing the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.