By Jessica Lee

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm on the night of Wednesday October 9^th. The hurricane made its way across the coast of Florida- downing trees and power lines, flattening homes and flooding roads. 

This hurricane comes just days after Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern coast of America and claimed the lives of 230 people, the largest loss of life in the US from a natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina. 

The death toll for Hurricane Milton has increased to 16 people, with the number climbing as more bodies are recovered.  

Evacuation orders were in place for over one million people living in the coastal areas of the state of Florida and 3 million people are currently still without power. 

The hurricane caused so much rain to fall in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, it is being considered a once in a thousand-year rainfall event. 

Mayor of Tampa Jane Castor issued a stark warning to Floridians in mandatory evacuation zones who chose to stay put in their homes; “I can say this without any dramatisation whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die.” 

Despite this warning, some residents chose to stay in their homes- many of whom had nowhere else to go. 

Images spread on social media of people writing their names and date of birth on themselves and their children’s arms in permanent marker in order to be identified if they were killed as a result of the hurricane.  

Sinéad Gleeson, an Irish woman living in Florida told the City about her experience staying in her home during the hurricane. 

“I had no choice but to stay in my house, I was not in a mandatory evacuation zone, but it was strongly encouraged by the mayor. I had nowhere else to, I didn’t have the money to fly somewhere…I just had to stay put and hope for the best.” 

“Thankfully, it was not as bad as it was thought it would be but there was still a lot of damage done, we just hope this is the last hurricane of the year,” said Sinéad. 

Despite warnings from President Biden and meteorologists alike, Hurricane Milton was not as severe as feared.  

Although the hurricane spared much of the western coast of Florida, airports in the region including Tampa and Palm Beach have remained closed. 

According to analysis by the National Hurricane Center, the storm surge spiked to 5 to 10 feet above ground level in some areas. However, it was initially estimated that the surge would reach 15 feet.  

So far this year there have already been 13 named Atlantic storms. With more than six weeks left of Hurricane season there are fears that another severe weather event will occur.