At least 16 people have died from Hurricane Milton, which roared onshore on Florida's west coast as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing tornadoes, powerful winds and flooding rains. The monster storm forced millions to evacuate and left widespread destruction across Florida.
Over 29% of gas stations across Florida are without fuel on Friday afternoon, according to GasBuddy.
The Tampa/St. Petersburg region is the hardest hit, with 77% of gas stations empty.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that the state had ample fuel reserves but faced delivery challenges. "We’ve escorted about 130 fuel tankers with the Florida Highway Patrol to ensure gas stations are replenished," he said, expressing hope that interruptions would be minimal moving forward.
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FEMA has enough funds for Helene and Milton recovery, but will need more from Congress by year’s end
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has "enough money to support the immediate needs for everybody impacted by Helene and Milton," however, it "does not have enough money to continue recoveries for everything that I have through the entire fiscal year," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters Friday after assessing damage in Florida.
FEMA is assessing every day how much money is being spent, but eventually, Criswell said she will need an additional supplemental spending bill to be passed by Congress.
"We will need one, it's just a matter of when," she said.
Criswell noted that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis submitted a request for an expedited disaster declaration for Hurricane Milton.
"We are going to put that through our system as quickly as possible so we can continue to bring the necessary resources to all Floridians that have been impacted by this event," she said.
Criswell said managing two back-to-back storms does complicate recovery efforts.
"It will be challenging, but we have done this before, and we're just going to have to continue to work with each person as they're working through understanding what they experienced from Helene, what they experienced from Milton, so they can get everything that they're eligible for," she said.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
2 hours ago
Video: Family rescued when house fills up with 6 feet of floodwaters
Video captured the moments deputies rescued eight people, including a child, from a house submerged in over 6 feet of floodwater in Dover, near Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
The entire family was safely evacuated, the sheriff’s office said.
2 hours ago
Rivers cresting in Hillsborough County
Milton wreaked havoc on Hillsborough County, which encompasses Tampa, bringing over 1 foot of torrential rain, significant flash flooding and rough winds that downed trees and wires, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Jason Dougherty said.
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Milton ‘caused havoc’ on our community: Hillsborough fire chief
Chief Jason Dougherty of the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue discusses his biggest concerns in the wake of Hurricane Milton.
ABCNews.com
Over 700 people were rescued on Thursday, Dougherty told ABC News Live.
And he warned that the danger isn’t over.
"Now we’re seeing our rivers crest, so that’s becoming a challenge, as well. So even as the storm has passed by, we’re still having rising waters," he said.
Dougherty urged residents to stay home and avoid surveilling the damage.