Millions in Florida still without power after hurricane

Millions of Floridians were still without electrical power, more than a day after Hurricane Milton roared across the midsection of the state, touching off tornadoes and leaving at least 16 people dead.

Utility workers repaired downed power lines and damaged cellphone towers, while crews from government agencies and residents armed with chain saws cleared downed trees and mopped up flooded neighbourhoods in cities and towns swamped by Milton's heavy rains.

While Milton never generated the catastrophic surge of seawater that had been feared in Florida - one of the southeast states hit by Hurricane Helene about two weeks ago - the clean-up operation could take weeks or months to complete.

"It opens your eyes to what Mother Nature can do," said Chase Pierce, a 25-year-old electrician's apprentice who, with his girlfriend, saw transformers blow up, sparks fly and a powerline fall in his St Petersburg yard.

The fifth-most-intense Atlantic hurricane on record, Milton could cost insurers between $30 billion and $60 billion, Morningstar DBRS analyst Marcos Alvarez said. But that is much lower than the $100 billion estimated by the firm earlier this week, before the storm's arrival on Wednesday evening.

The White House pledged government support as the full extent of the damage was still being surveyed.

But Republican Donald Trump, who trails Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 5 November presidential election, according to recent Reuters/Ipsos polling, attacked Ms Harris and President Joe Biden for their handling of storm recovery efforts.

"The federal government ... has not done what you are supposed to be doing, in particular, with respect to North Carolina," he said yesterday. North Carolina was hard-hit by Helene, and Mr Trump faces a tight battle against Ms Harris there.

Ms Harris, who has said Mr Trump is spreading lies about the government's response, hit back at the politicisation of the issue during a town hall event on Univision.

"Sadly, we have seen over the last two weeks, since Hurricane Helene, and now in the immediate aftermath of Milton, where people are playing political games," she said, without naming Mr Trump.

Politicians of both stripes are deeply aware of how Republican President George W Bush's approval ratings fell after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.

He never recovered from the perception of many at the time that his administration's response was inadequate.

The Biden administration said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would need additional funding from Congress, where the Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate, and urged politicians, who are on recess, to act.

Floridians say they came through a double disaster.

While Milton came ashore on the state's western coast on Wednesday evening, some of its worst havoc was wrought more than 160km away along the state's eastern shore.

There were at least 16 hurricane-related deaths, CBS News cited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as saying.

In St Lucie County, an advance flurry of tornadoes killed several people, including at least two in the Spanish Lakes communities, according to local officials.

Between Siesta Key and Fort Myers Beach, peak water levels reached 1.5m to 3m above ground level, according to a preliminary analysis posted by the National Hurricane Center.

The number of Florida power customers without electricity had dropped to about 2.44 million as this morning, according the website PowerOutage.us, down from a high of more than 3.4 million in the immediate aftermath of Milton.

Some have been waiting days for power to be restored after Hurricane Helene hit the area.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has cautioned that although the state had avoided the "worst-case scenario," the damage was still significant.