Zürcher Nachrichten - Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'

EUR -
AED 3.834856
AFN 72.981026
ALL 98.491871
AMD 410.574545
ANG 1.873597
AOA 958.441534
ARS 1062.068709
AUD 1.668164
AWG 1.879297
AZN 1.774656
BAM 1.956632
BBD 2.099092
BDT 124.232814
BGN 1.958008
BHD 0.392267
BIF 3073.606664
BMD 1.044054
BND 1.4119
BOB 7.184054
BRL 6.348575
BSD 1.039642
BTN 88.383574
BWP 14.369109
BYN 3.402246
BYR 20463.455505
BZD 2.089788
CAD 1.4984
CDF 2996.434335
CHF 0.932371
CLF 0.037427
CLP 1032.725839
CNY 7.619298
CNH 7.624449
COP 4583.396412
CRC 524.522987
CUC 1.044054
CUP 27.667427
CVE 110.312953
CZK 25.108921
DJF 185.128703
DKK 7.458302
DOP 63.306913
DZD 140.708819
EGP 53.090769
ERN 15.660808
ETB 129.594994
FJD 2.419125
FKP 0.826872
GBP 0.82945
GEL 2.934095
GGP 0.826872
GHS 15.282497
GIP 0.826872
GMD 75.171679
GNF 8981.818386
GTQ 8.010405
GYD 217.502466
HKD 8.11186
HNL 26.390219
HRK 7.4889
HTG 136.00782
HUF 413.977438
IDR 16852.07323
ILS 3.801792
IMP 0.826872
INR 88.729074
IQD 1361.878967
IRR 43941.619435
ISK 145.113457
JEP 0.826872
JMD 162.65915
JOD 0.740338
JPY 163.428363
KES 134.213278
KGS 90.832546
KHR 4177.776073
KMF 486.659583
KPW 939.647883
KRW 1514.838471
KWD 0.321516
KYD 0.866368
KZT 545.98211
LAK 22754.673557
LBP 93096.577585
LKR 305.22976
LRD 188.690217
LSL 19.139837
LTL 3.08282
LVL 0.631537
LYD 5.108172
MAD 10.463148
MDL 19.149141
MGA 4905.085269
MKD 61.561171
MMK 3391.046186
MNT 3547.694854
MOP 8.322738
MRU 41.345577
MUR 49.280896
MVR 16.080872
MWK 1802.251891
MXN 20.95141
MYR 4.682524
MZN 66.718935
NAD 19.139837
NGN 1614.576632
NIO 38.256264
NOK 11.798806
NPR 141.414119
NZD 1.845107
OMR 0.401651
PAB 1.039642
PEN 3.871246
PGK 4.215792
PHP 61.207138
PKR 289.37392
PLN 4.260093
PYG 8106.446244
QAR 3.789911
RON 4.977322
RSD 117.017747
RUB 107.411783
RWF 1449.216096
SAR 3.922094
SBD 8.752883
SCR 14.548185
SDG 628.007273
SEK 11.498155
SGD 1.414228
SHP 0.826872
SLE 23.801848
SLL 21893.290418
SOS 594.152588
SRD 36.678625
STD 21609.806806
SVC 9.096867
SYP 2623.21688
SZL 19.135135
THB 35.777638
TJS 11.373235
TMT 3.664629
TND 3.312708
TOP 2.445276
TRY 36.741769
TTD 7.056
TWD 34.125736
TZS 2521.389855
UAH 43.600836
UGX 3813.621262
USD 1.044054
UYU 46.369713
UZS 13403.698233
VES 53.742914
VND 26555.509733
VUV 123.952164
WST 2.884499
XAF 656.235982
XAG 0.035143
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.821607
XDR 0.793037
XOF 656.235982
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.404956
ZAR 19.098632
ZMK 9397.736499
ZMW 28.771231
ZWL 336.184914
  • RIO

    -0.0900

    58.64

    -0.15%

  • BTI

    0.1131

    36.24

    +0.31%

  • SCS

    -0.5800

    11.74

    -4.94%

  • NGG

    0.8200

    58.5

    +1.4%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.86

    +0.08%

  • RELX

    -0.3100

    45.47

    -0.68%

  • RBGPF

    59.9600

    59.96

    +100%

  • BCC

    -0.2600

    122.75

    -0.21%

  • CMSD

    0.0000

    23.56

    0%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    23.16

    +0.22%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.27

    -0.14%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    8.39

    +0.12%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    33.6

    +0.51%

  • AZN

    0.9100

    65.35

    +1.39%

  • JRI

    0.1100

    12.06

    +0.91%

  • BP

    0.1900

    28.6

    +0.66%

Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario' / Photo: Bryan R. SMITH - AFP

Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'

Hurricane Milton tore a coast-to-coast path of destruction across the US state of Florida, whipping up a spate of deadly tornadoes that left at least four people dead, but avoiding the catastrophic devastation officials had feared.

Text size:

"The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference.

Milton made landfall Wednesday night on the Florida Gulf Coast as a major Category 3 storm, with sustained, powerful winds smashing inland through communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, before roaring off Florida's east coast into the Atlantic.

Across the storm's path, roads were blocked by downed trees and power lines and some three million people were without power as of Thursday morning.

On a street near Sarasota Bay, Kristin Joyce, a 72-year-old interior designer who opted not to evacuate, took photos of tree branches snapped by the wind.

"This is very tragic, especially for an area that relies on a lot of tourism and real estate," she told AFP, surveying the damage.

"There is no question it needs to be a serious wake-up call for everyone in terms of climate change."

A few miles away, wind uprooted large trees and ripped apart the roof at the Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field baseball stadium in St. Petersburg, and sent a construction crane falling onto a downtown building nearby.

In Clearwater on the west coast, emergency crews in rescue boats were out at first light, plucking stranded residents trapped in their homes by more than a meter (yard) of floodwater.

President Joe Biden, who said he spoke with DeSantis Thursday, urged people to stay inside in the aftermath of the storm, with downed power lines and debris "creating dangerous conditions."

In a video posted on social media, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania were praying for Florida residents affected by the storm and urged them to vote for him.

"Hopefully, on January 20th you're going to have somebody that's really going to help you and help you like never before," the former president said, referring to the date when US presidents are inaugurated.

- Biden fury at Trump -

St. Lucie County sheriff confirmed four fatalities and posted a video showing a police garage that had been destroyed by a tornado.

"Our search and rescue teams and first responders are out there," he said Thursday morning, noting the weather was "thinning down."

Hurricane Helene had just struck the US southeast late last month, and the back-to-back storms have become election fodder as Trump spreads conspiracy theories claiming Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are abandoning victims.

That prompted a furious response from Biden who on Wednesday called Trump "reckless, irresponsible."

After exiting through Florida's eastern coast, Milton was churning in the Atlantic as a Category 1 hurricane Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hours before Milton made landfall on Florida's west coast, damage had already been done far away on the opposite side of the state, as tornadoes suddenly descended.

In Cocoa Beach, one tornado swept in from the ocean, blowing out almost all the windows of a hair salon and tearing a chunk of roof off a bank.

Katherine and Larry Hingle said they were on their condo porch, watching the river water rise, when the tornado came through Wednesday evening.

"I said 'it sounds like a train's coming,'" Katherine, 53, told AFP while out to walk their dog and survey the damage.

- 'Lucky' -

Streets in downtown Orlando, in the interior of the state, were covered in leaves but largely spared from flooding.

Jackie Berrios, 60, told AFP that an oak tree "snapped in half" at her father's home, "but luckily it didn't hit his house."

Scientists say extreme rainfall and destructive storms are occurring with greater severity and frequency as temperatures rise due to climate change. As warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, they provide more energy for storms as they form.

The cleanup from Milton will come as emergency crews still work to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 237 people.

In Sarasota, resident Carrie Elizabeth expressed the feelings of many that despite the violent night, Milton was not quite as bad as had been feared.

"I feel that we're very lucky," she said. "It'll take a long time to clean up, but it could have been much worse."

L.Muratori--NZN