Climate Impact Report – 10/11

October 11, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 10/11

Post-Tropical Cyclone Milton

As of 5 pm Thursday, Milton weakened into a Post-Tropical Cyclone with maximum winds of 70 mph, and was located about 220 miles north-northeast of Great Abaco Island and 710 miles west-southwest of Bermuda.
As of Friday morning, at least 16 people have been confirmed dead in the storm’s aftermath.
- There were at least six deaths in St. Lucie, four in Volusia, two in Pinellas, and 1 death in Citrus, Hillsborough, Polk, and Orange counties.
As of Friday morning, nearly 2.5 million customers were still without power in Florida.
As of Thursday evening, urban search and rescue teams and the Florida National Guard had rescued at least 999 people and 105 animals.
Between Siesta Key and Fort Myers Beach, peak water levels reached 5 to 10 feet above ground level.
On Thursday, Florida Gov. DeSantis cautioned that although the state had avoided the “worst-case scenario,” the damage was still significant.
The Florida National Guard activated more than 6,500 service members for the Hurricane Milton response, providing search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, route clearing, and protection of critical infrastructure, among other efforts.
As of Friday morning, the Coast Guard has reopened some ports following Hurricane Milton, including Key West and Port Miami in Florida, as well as several ports in Georgia and South Carolina.
In St. Petersburg, drinking water has been restored, but the city remains under a boil water notice until Monday.
The National Weather Service continues surveying tornado damage driven by Hurricane Milton and has determined that a tornado that hit Cocoa Beach on Wednesday evening was an EF1 with 85 to 95 mph winds.
St. Lucie, one of the hardest-hit locations, saw multiple tornadoes within a 90-minute window and about 900 calls for help in the same period.
As Florida struggles to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Milton and the lingering effects from Helene two weeks earlier, studies suggest the long-term health consequences could be devastating.
- A recent study examined nearly 500 tropical cyclones from 1930 to 2015 in the U.S. and found that big storms lead to thousands of extra deaths after the storms, and leave lasting impacts on public health.
The Atlantic hurricane activity has reached above-average levels for the season, and there are still more than six weeks left.