Residents repair their homes and clean up after Hurricane Milton tore through Florida

ST. PETERSBURG (AP) — Florida residents repaired damage from Hurricane Milton and cleaned up debris today after the storm smashed through coastal communities and tore homes to pieces, flooded streets and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes.

At least eight people were dead, but many expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse. The hurricane spared densely populated Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialized. Arriving just two weeks after the devastating Hurricane Helene, the system flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays ‘ baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane.

As residents assessed damage to their property, over 2.5 million customers in Florida remained without power Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us. But the state’s vital tourism industry started to return to normal, with several theme parks preparing to reopen. A flood of vehicles headed south Thursday evening on Interstate 75, the main highway that runs through the middle of the state, as relief workers and evacuated residents returned to assess the aftermath. Bucket trucks and fuel tankers streamed by, along with portable bathroom trailers and a convoy of emergency vehicles.